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ROBESPIERRE 

AND 

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 




ROBESPIERRE 
From an engraving in the collection of William J. Latta, Esq. 



ROBESPIERRE 

AND THE 

FRENCH REVOLUTION 



BY CHARLES F. WARWICK 

AUTHOR OF MIRABEAU AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 
DANTON AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 




PHILADELPHIA 

GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



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Copyright, igog 
By George W. Jacobs &-> Co. 

Published May, 1909 
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All Rights Reserved 
Printed in U, S. A, 



LIBI^ARY of 


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PREFACE -3 y 



This is the last volume in a series of three 
books on the three most distinguished and rep- 
resentative men in each of the three distinctive 
periods of the French Revolution. The first vol- - 
ume is on Mirabeau, who dominated the Revo- 
lution from the meeting of the States-General in 
May, 1789, until his death in April, 1791, and 
whose purpose was to save the mo.ja. by but to 
restrict its arbitrary power by constitutional limi- 
tations. The second volume is on Tinton, who 
became, after the death of Mirabeau, the 'repre- 
sentative of the radical republican sentiment and 
was the controlling figure during the period that 
witnessed the overthrow of the monarchy, the 
establishment of the republic and the execution 
of the king. This, the third volume, is on Robes- 
pierre, the ruling spirit during the " Reign of 
Terror," from the expulsion of the Girondins un- 
til his execution in July, 1794. 

It is not contended, of course, that the French 
Revolution can be divided by exact metes and 
bounds into three separate periods; but Mira- 
beau, Danton, and Robespierre, more than any 
other leaders of that era, stood in the periods 
they dominated as the representatives of the pre- 
vailing principles and purposes of the Revolu- 
tion. 



PREFACE 

As was originally stated, it has been my inten- 
tion to trace briefly the causes of the Revolu- 
tion and to group its principal events around 
these three men. Although each book is sepa- 
rate and complete in itself, the three volumes 
form a series covering the entire period of the 
Revolution, 

All of the illustrations are from the very val- 
uable collection of engravings, autograph letters, 
and documents owned by William J. Latta, 
Esq., of Philadelphia, and I take this opportunity 
to thank him for his kindness and courtesy in 
giving me access to his collection for the pur- 
pose of making selections. 

I desire further in this connection to acknowl- 
edge my obligation to the Provost and the Li- 
brarian of the University of Pennsylvania for 
permitting me to make a translation of the orig- 
inal and very interesting letter of Robespierre to 
[Benjamin Franklin, dated October i, 1783, which 
appears in this volume. 

Charles F. Warwick. 

Philadelphia, February, 1909. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I PAGE 
Robespierre 15 

CHAPTER n 
Diversity of Opinion as to the Character and the Pur- 
poses of Robespierre 39 

CHAPTER in 
Birth of Robespierre — Family — Education — Conies to - 
the Bar / 49 

CHAPTER IV 
France — Louis XIII — Louis XIV — Versailles — Louis 
XV — Accession of Louis XVI — The Causes of the 
French Revolution — Transforming Periods — Results 
of the French Revolution 59 

CHAPTER V 
The Nobility — Suffering of the People — The Reveillon 
Incident — Necker Urges Calling of States-General — 
King Calls States-General — The Notables — Election 
of Deputies — Robespierre Chosen Deputy From 
Arras j6 

CHAPTER VI 
Meeting of the States-General — Robespierre and Mira- 
beau — Robespierre Replies to the Bishop — Delegates 
of the Third Estate Declare Themselves the Na- 
tional Assembly — Sieyes — Oath of the Tennis Court 
— Mounier — Royal Sitting — Mirabeau Defies the Or- 
der of the King 84 

■7 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER VII PAGE 

Arrest and Release of the French Guards — Dismissal 
of Necker — Fall of the Bastile — Murder of De Fles- 
seles, Delaunay, Foul on, Berthier 95 

CHAPTER VIII 
Declaration of the Rights of Man — Abolition of Priv- 
ileges — Feast of the Guards — March of the Women 
to Versailles — Return of the King to Paris — The 
Jacobins — Robespierre Gains Power and Influence 
Through His Association with the Jacobins log 

CHAPTER IX 
France Divided Into Departments — Paris — Murder of 
Francois — The Theatres — Confiscation of Church 
Property — Assignats n8 

CHAPTER X 
The King Visits the Assembly — Marquis de Favres — 
Count D'Inisdal — Reorganization of the Church — 
Festival of the Federation — Affair of Nancy 127 

CHAPTER XI 
Resignation of Necker — Necker — The National Guard 
— The King's Aunts — The Affair of Vincennes — 
The Day of the Daggers — Theroigne de Mericourt 
— Mirabeau — Story of the Alleged Conspiracy to 
Poison Mirabeau 138 

CHAPTER XII 
The King's Flight to Varennes — Danton and Robes- 
pierre Attack La Fayette at the Jacobins' — Return 
of the King — Deposition of King Favored — Duke of 
Orleans Suggested as Successor to Louis XVI 159 

CHAPTER XIII 
Address Issued by the Republican Society — Thomas 

Paine — ^Voltaire — Funeral of Voltaire 169 

8 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER XIV 



PAGE 



The Assembly Decrees the Inviolability of the King — 
Fusillade of the Champ de Mars — Robespierre Finds ' 
Refuge in the House of Duplay — Duport — Barnave 
— Charles Lameth 179 

CHAPTER XV 
Journalism and Journalists — The Cafes — The Guig- 
nettes — Qa. Ira — Carmagnole 190 

CHAPTER XVI 
Revision of the Constitution — Robespierre Urges the 
Immediate Adoption of the Constitution — The Con- 
stitution. Adopted — Robespierre Returns to Arras 
and is Given an Ovation — The Legislative Assem- 
bly Convoked — The Girondins — Brissot — Vergniaud- 
Gensonne — Guadet — Isnard — Oratory in France 208 

CHAPTER XVII 
The Girondins Favor War — Robespierre Opposes Dec- / 
laration of War — War Declared — Accusation of the 
Emigrant Princes — Mirabeau the Younger — The 
King's Vetoes — Proclamation of the Duke of Bruns- 
wick — Danton 222 

CHAPTER XVIII 
The National Convention Convoked — The Legislative 
Bodies of the Revolution — The Republic Proclaimed 
— Jacobins and Girondins — Robespierre Assailed by 
Louvet — Robespierre Replies to Louvet — Barere 233 

CHAPTER XIX 
Trial of the King — His Execution — Treason of Du- 
mouriez — Lasource Attacks Danton— Dumouriez — 
Girondins — Marat Accused — Hall of the Convention 247 

CHAPTER XX 
Robespierre's Reply to Vergniaud — Girondins Expelled 
From the Convention — Marat's Assassination — Trial 
9 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

and Execution of Charlotte Corday — Festival of 
August the Tenth — The Great Committee 262 

CHAPTER XXI 
Execution of Marie Antoinette — Trial and Execution 
of the Girondins — Execution of Madame Roland... 278 

CHAPTER XXn 
Danton Grows Weary of Slaughter — Robespierre Re* 
bukes Camille — Robespierre Defends Danton — Cou- 
thon— St. Just 288 

CHAPTER XXni 
An Irreligious Frenzy — Execiition of the Hebertists — 
Robespierre Meets Danton at Dinner — Execution of 
the Dantonists 298 

CHAPTER XXIV 
Was Robespierre the Scapegoat of the Revolution? — v 
Attempted Assassination of Collot d'Herbois by 
L'Admiral — Cecile Regnault 308 

CHAPTER XXV 
Irreligious Condition of France — Festival of the Su- ^ 
preme Being 316 

CHAPTER XXVI 
Law of the 22nd Prairial — Robespierre's Friends Urge y 
, Him to Seize Dictatorship 329 

CHAPTER XXVII 
Catharine Theot — Madame de Saint-Amaranthe — Her 
Execution — The Reign of Death 336 

CHAPTER XXVIII 
Robespierre's Enemies Plot His Downfall — Robes- 
pierre Grows Supine 351 

10 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XXIX p^cE 

Robespierre's Last Speech in the Convention 355 

CHAPTER XXX 
Robespierre Assailed in the Convention — His Accusa- 
tion and Arrest — Execution of Robespierre and His 
Friends 362 

CHAPTER XXXI 
Reaction After the Death of Robespierre — Collot 
d'Herbois, Billaud-Varennes, Vadier, and Barere 
Tried and Convicted — Uprising of the 20th of May, 
1795 — Massacre of Feraud — Trial, Conviction, and 
Suicide of Romme and His Companions — Constitu- 
tion of 1795 — Robespierre as Compared With His 
Contemporaries — How the Revolution Affected the 
Minds of Men — Its Influence and Lessons 373 



TT 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



FACING PAGE 

Robespierre. From an engraving in the collection of 
William J. Latta, Esq Frontispiece 

Vergniaud. From an engraving in the collection of 
William J. Latta, Esq., after a painting by Raffet. . 34 

Marat's Certificate of Membership in the English 
Lodge of Masons. From the original in the collec- 
tion of William J. Latta, Esq 68 ' 

Th^roigne de Mericourt. From an engraving in the 
collection of William J. Latta, Esq., after a painting 
by Raffet 148^ 

Drouet. From an engraving in the collection of Wil- 
liam J. Latta, Esq., after a painting by Raffet 160 "^ 

Barnave. From an engraving in the collection of Wil- 
liam J. Latta, Esq 182 

Charles de Lameth. From an engraving in the col- 
lection of William J. Latta, Esq 186 . 

GENSONNf. From an engraving in the collection of 
William J. Latta, Esq., after a painting by Raffet... 218 

Barere. From an engraving in the collection of Wil- 
liam J. Latta, Esq 244 -^ 

Valaz£. From an engraving in the collection of Wil- 
liam J. Latta, Esq., after a painting by Raffet 280 ^ 

Georges Couthon. From an engraving in the collec- 
tion of William J. Latta, Esq., after a painting by 
Ducreux 290 ' 

1', 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING PAGE 

St. Just. From an engraving in the collection of Wil- 
liam J. Latta, Esq 296 

FouQuiER TiNviLLE. From an engraving in the collec- 
tion of William J. Latta, Esq 346 

Billaui>-Varennes. From an engraving in the collec- 
tion of William J. Latta, Esq., after a painting by 
Raffet 352 

Extract from the Registry of the Committee of 
Public Safety. From the original in the collection 
of William J. Latta, Esq 364 

CoLLOT d'Herbois. From an engraving in the collection 
of William J. Latta, Esq., after a painting by Raffet. 384 



14 



ROBESPIERRE 

AND 

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

CHAPTER I 

ROBESPIERRE 

It would be difficult to find in the history of 
the world, or in the biographies of its distin- 
guished men, anyone with so little genius who 
reached such an eminence in so violent a period as 
did Robespierre. His natural talents were me- 
diocre, and among the leading men in the early 
days of the Revolution he held an inferior place; 
but in spite of many personal and mental dis- 
advantages, which would have ruinously handi- 
capped any man with a spirit less indomitable, 
he at last reached a position of commanding in- 
fluence and power. 

He was possessed, of a single ruling idea, and 
had a fixedness of purpose, an indefatigable per- 
severance, that neither fate nor defeat could 
weaken or destroy. 

His reserve was impenetrable, and this made it 
interesting as well as difficult to fathom his pur- 

15 



ROBESPIERRE 

pose. By his earnestness, he impressed men with 
his sincerity, and he was so far removed from 
every form and feature of venaHty that he was 
in time designated " The Incorruptible," this 
term being appHed neither in irony nor in con- 
tempt. DesmouHns, who had been his school- 
fellow and who formed an alliance with him in 
the beginning of the Revolution, called him his 
Aristides and did this with every mark of respect, 
and this reputation for integrity did not abate 
as time ran on. 

When he entered a meeting of the Jacobins in 
November, 1791, after his return to Paris from 
Arras, Collot d' Herbois at once arose and said: 
" I move that this distinguished member of the 
Constituent Assembly, justly surnamed ' The In- 
corruptible,' be called to preside over this so- 
ciety." The motion was carried by acclama- 
tion. 

i,In temperament Robespierre was cold and 
proof against the allurements that seduce men. 
Women and the pleasures of the table w^re 
to him no temptation. Money could not bribe 
nor persuade him. He had neither lust nor 
avarice. Although without vices and passions, 
he was also without the courage, the greatness, 
and the impulsive generosity that so often ac- 
company them. 

He was dogmatic In opinion ; " his conviction 
was to him always a sufficing reason." 

His vanity and conceit were monumental and 
like all men of affectation he appeared at times 
16 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

to be overcome with ennui, acting as if his bur- 
dens were too heavy to be borne. 

In health he was not robust, being troubled 
with some form of indigestion which gave his 
face a bilious hue. " I once conversed with 
Robespierre," said Madame de Stael, " at my 
father's house in 1789. His features were mean, 
his complexion was pale, his veins were of a 
greenish hue." 

He had a nervous twitching of the eyes, to con- 
ceal which he wore green glasses. Dumont 
states that " he had a sinister expression of coun- 
tenance, never looked you in the face, and had 
a continual and an unpleasant winking." 

Lamartine, who was close enough to the Revo- 
lution to meet many persons who had seen and 
known Robespierre, describes his appearance as 
follows : " His figure was small ; his limbs were 
feeble and angular; his step was irresolute; his 
attitudes were affected ; his gestures destitute of 
harmony and grace; his voice was rather shrill; 
his forehead was good but small and extremely 
projecting above the temples ; his eyes were much 
covered by their lids, were very sharp at the ex- 
tremities, and were deeply buried in the cavities 
of their orbits ; they gave out a soft blue hue, but 
it was vague and unfixed; his nose was straight 
and small, but very wide at the nostrils, which 
were high and too much expanded; his mouth 
was large; his lips were thin and disagreeably 
contracted at each corner; his chin was small 

and pointed ; his complexion was yellow and livid. 
2 17 



ROBESPIERRE 

The habitual expression of this visage was that 
of superficial serenity on a serious mind and a 
smile wavering betwixt sarcasm and condescen- 
sion." 

Like a number of other distinguished men of 
that period, among whom can be named Mira- 
beau, Danton, and Vergniaud, he was marked 
with the smallpox. In stature he was short, be- 
ing but 5 feet 2 inches in height. 

When he came to Paris as a deputy he lived 
frugally in a retired quarter of the city. His 
lodgings were in the district known as the 
Marais, " in the dismal Rue de Saintonge." 
" He spends little," said Condorcet, " and has but 
few physical wants." Lamartine states that his 
dinners cost him thirty sous. His only extrava- 
gance was his love of oranges, which he ate by 
the dozen. 

In the summer of 1791 he took up his abode in 
the house of Maurice Duplay, a carpenter or cab- 
inet-maker residing on the Rue St. Honore op- 
posite the Church of the Assumption. The house 
was low, two stories and an attic, and surrounded 
by a court which was filled with lumber, over 
which were constructed weather sheds; here was 
also the shop of the landlord. Robespierre's 
room was on the second floor, the windows of it 
looking out on the yard. It contained a wooden 
bedstead, a table, and four stout straw-bottomed 
chairs, being comfortably but not luxuriously fur- 
nished. It served for his study as well as dormi- 
tory. Shelves against the walls held his library, 
18 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

his manuscripts, and copies of his carefully pre- 
pared speeches. 

" His apartments, though small," writes Scott, 
" were elegant, and vanity had filled them with 
representations of the occupant; his picture, at 
length, hung in one place, his miniature in an- 
other, his bust occupied a niche, and on the table 
were disposed a few medallions exhibiting his 
head in profile." Barbaroux, in his Memoirs, 
says that his boudoir was handsomely furnished 
and filled with pictures, prints, and busts of him- 
self. This must have been at a period other than 
when he was living at Duplay's house, for there 
is no proof that while he resided there he had a 
dressing-room such as Scott and Barbaroux de- 
scribe. 

He had no means while in Paris other than 
his pay as a deputy, with the exception of rent 
from two or three small farms in the neighbor- 
hood of Arras; and this rent was meagre in 
amount and irregularly paid. 

The revenues from these two sources consti- 
tuted his sole income, for he did not practice his 
profession while in attendance upon the sessions 
of the Assembly. One-fourth of all he received 
he sent to his sister Charlotte and, according to 
Michelet, one-fourth to a mistress who devotedly 
loved him but whom he seldom saw. There is 
a story extant that at one time he actually closed 
the door in her face. 

The family with whom he resided consisted of 
M. Duplay, his wife, his son, and four daugh- 

19 



ROBESPIERRE 

ters; the eldest of the children, named Eleonore, 
was twenty-five years of age. The household 
was orderly, respectable, and affectionate, and 
Robespierre partook of those delights of domes- 
ticity which up to this point in his life he had 
never enjoyed. In this quiet circle he was not 
the frigid, austere man that he was in the outer 
world; here he was seen at his best. Agreeable, 
considerate, gentle, and kindly, he won not only 
the admiration, but the affection of every mem- 
ber of the family. Duplay belonged to the So- 
ciety of the Jacobins, and had met Robespierre 
at its meetings; he had for him the highest re- 
gard and felt much honored in having so dis- 
tinguished a man as a lodger under his humble 
roof. 

For recreation Robespierre was in the habit of 
indulging in long walks and on these occasions 
he was usually accompanied by a big Danish dog 
named Bruant. Occasionally he would take 
Madame Duplay and her daughters to the theatre, 
and this seems to have been his only amusement. 

In attire he was very neat, his clothes were 
well brushed, but sometimes, during the early 
period of his sojourn in Paris, showed wear. 
His hair was powdered, he wore short or knee 
breeches, shirt frills, and shoes with silver buckles, 
in defiance of sans-culottism, until the day of his 
death. He believed with Madame Roland that 
patriotism did not consist in " swearing, drinking, 
and dressing like porters." 

The author of " Memoirs of a Peer of France " 
says : " He was particular about having his linen 

20 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

very fine and very white. He would have his 
frills plaited with extreme neatness; he wore 
waistcoats of delicate colors — pink, light blue, 
and chamois elegantly embroidered. The dress- 
ing of his hair took him considerable time and 
he was difficult to please about the cut and color 
of his coats. He had two watches, wore sev- 
eral costly rings on his fingers, and had a valuable 
collection of snuff boxes." 

The story that his wardrobe was so scanty that 
he was compelled to borrow a black coat from a 
man much larger than himself, at the time the 
Assembly went into mourning for Franklin, may 
be pronounced a mere fabrication. He was too 
particular in the matter of dress and too proud in 
spirit to go around smothered in a coat of which 
the tails, according to Michelet, trailed four inches 
on the ground. 

Although not given to fawning, it is related 
that during the early sessions of the States-Gen- 
eral he was all but obsequious in his attentions 
to Mirabeau, and persisted in walking with him 
in the streets and in the public promenades and 
gardens till he was nicknamed Mirabeau's ape. 

Robespierre was, unquestionably, of a highly 
nervous temperament, but in the " Memoirs of a 
Peer of France " he is charged with absolute 
childish timidity. *' I had in my room," says 
the writer, " a skull which I made use of to study 
anatomy. The sight of it was so disagreeable 
to him that he at last begged me to put it away 
and not let him see it any more." The same au- 
thor further adds that Robespierre " did not like 

21 



ROBESPIERRE 

to be left alone in the dark. The slightest noise 
made him shudder, and terror was expressed in 
his eyes." There must be a shade of exaggera- 
tion in these statements, for if Robespierre shud- 
dered when alone in the dark he could not have 
been so self-reliant when out in the world; he 
evinced no signs of timidity in his daily inter- 
course with men, and was of a most independent 
spirit. He repelled all familiarity, and unless he 
removed the barriers men kept at a distance. 
Dumouriez, upon the occasion of a visit to a cer- 
tain club, consented to wear the red cap, and 
Louis XVI wore it for two hours on the memo- 
rable " Day of the Black Breeches," ^ but when 
some one placed it on the powdered locks of Ro- 
bespierre at the Jacobins', he indignantly tore 
it from his head, threw it to the floor, and tram- 
pled it under foot. 

It was hard to reach his heart or to move his 
compassion. The Duchess d' Abrantes relates 
that a young and fascinating woman, Madame 
Lamarliere, appealed to him for the release of her 
husband from prison. " She had the courage to 
implore the mercy of one who never knew mercy." 
She called upon him at his lodgings in the Rue 
St, Honore on the day he gave away in marriage 
the daughter of Duplay the carpenter. He left 
the nuptial feast to meet the visitor, and it was 
such an occasion, one would think, as he would 
have found pleasure in memorializing by an act 
of clemency. Madame Lamarliere was of daz- 
zling beauty, and her despair tended greatly to 

1 See " Danton and the French Revolution," p. 200. 

22 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

heighten it. She threw herself at his feet and 
begged for mercy, but her tears, her intercession, 
and her anguish failed to move the pity of his 
heart. When she withdrew, he simply remarked : 
" She is a very pretty woman — very pretty in- 
deed," and then, the Duchess adds, he made a 
suggestive and an indecent comment. If this 
last statement be true, it was exceptional conduct 
upon his part, for he was not given to the use 
of lewd or vulgar language. 

With none of those qualities of heart that in- 
duce popular affection, he had only a few per- 
sonal friends, but those few seemed to possess 
his entire confidence; with them he was on the 
most familiar terms, but when out among stran- 
gers, he was distant, unsociable, and at times 
even brusque. Barere relates in his Memoirs 
the following incident which, if true, reveals Ro- 
bespierre in anything but an agreeable light. It 
appears that M. Lomenie was anxious to meet 
him and requested Barere to invite him to din- 
ner. Barere at first refused on the ground that 
Robespierre was very uncompanionable, suspi- 
cious, and distrustful; but, at last consenting, an 
invitation was extended and much to the sur- 
prise of Barere was accepted. The dinner was 
spread for six at a restaurant kept by a man 
named Meot. The company was gay enough, 
but Robespierre was quiet and morose and did 
not enter into conversation until after the coffee 
was served. He then asked Barere the name of 
the gentleman who sat next to him. Upon be- 
ing informed that it was M. Lomenie, a nephew 
23 



ROBESPIERRE 

of the cardinal who had convoked the States- 
General, he replied : " He is a Brienne, and a 
noble," and a few seconds after this he took his 
hat, and retired without a word more. 

Cold, repellant, without generous emotions, he 
yet had qualities that enabled him to force his 
way to the front, and by a relentless policy to 
overthrow his adversaries, attain an eminence, 
and in one of the stormiest periods in the world's 
history exercise a power that was almost im- 
perial. 

" It is owing to his inferior abilities," says 
Mignet, " that he appeared among the last of the 
revolutionary leaders — a great advantage in a 
revolution, for the earlier leaders are certain to 
be swept away." This sounds very plausible 
as a general proposition, but the truth is that 
Robespierre became a leader in a comparatively 
early stage of the Revolution — long before the 
chiefs and the factions began to destroy each 
other. 

It is true that, at first, he made but a slight im- 
pression upon his colleagues and exerted no 
power in the Assembly; in fact, so little known 
was he among the delegates, that his name was 
frequently misspelt in the journal, but after he 
attained his influence with the Jacobins he was 
a factor to be reckoned with, and that made a 
great difference in the treatment he received and 
in the opinion that was held concerning him. A 
man's importance in politics is measured by the 
influence he wields. A distinguished English- 
man, in a letter written to a friend in the latter 
24 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

part of 1790, commenting upon the purchase of 
Mirabeau by the court, said he would rather buy 
Robespierre. 

He was, at the date of Mirabeau's death in 
the spring of 1791, a representative of the ad- 
vanced revolutionists, and even more prominent 
than Danton, whose reputation at this period was 
confined within his own section. He did not lose 
his prominence and popularity as time progressed, 
for upon the dissolution of the Constituent As- 
sembly he, with Petion, was crowned by the peo- 
ple of Paris. At this point he represented not 
only the most radical club in France but also the 
populace, and exerted an influence second to no 
man in the nation. He was never an idol of 
the mob in the sense that Marat was, but he un- 
questionably had their respect and confidence, and 
they " supported him as the best representative of 
their doctrines and interests." 

There was a reason for his elevation. It was 
not, by any means, the result of mere chance; it 
was gained by energy, application, hard work. 
Although wanting in what is called physical cour- 
age, he had great determination and pursued in- 
defatigably the object he had in view. He was 
consistent in his political conduct and that is al- 
ways a claim to public favor. 

In his devotion to the Revolution he was al- 
most fanatical and would remorselessly have de- 
stroyed anything that stood in the way of its 
success, but he was not alone among the revolu- 
tionists in this respect. He was a zealot, a bigot, 
with the spirit of a Calvin and the intolerance 

25 



ROBESPIERRE 

of a Torquemada, looking upon the enemies of 
the Revolution as those pious and devout men 
did upon heretics. He sometimes countenanced 
evil that good might come, or in other words, 
advocated the dangerous doctrine that the end 
justifies the means. The same spirit of intoler- 
ance that characterizes a religious persecution 
dominated the French Revolution, and when re- 
ligion sends a heretic to the stake it is not called 
murder. 

At a time when, religious restraint having been 
removed, men gave way to vicious indulgences, 
he was severely virtuous and honest. It was 
never even intimated that he was in negotiation 
with the court. When their emissaries were 
abroad in every direction corrupting and bribing 
men, even some of the most distinguished in the 
ranks of the revolutionists, he was not for a mo- 
ment suspected. A fortune was within his reach, 
but not a sou of dishonest money soiled his fin- 
gers. Napoleon declared that if Pitt had offered 
Robespierre two million pounds his offer would 
have been spurned with indignation. No one 
ever questioned his personal integrity. His debts 
at the time of his death, after a five years' resi- 
dence in Paris, amounted to only 4,000 francs. 

Living frugally and decently in the sight of the 
community, his Spartan virtue and democratic 
simplicity won for him the regard and admiration 
of the multitude. 

Because of his known integrity Robespierre 
was a terror to evil doers, and he despised those 
scoundrels who, while professing loyalty to the 

26 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

republic, were making money out of their posi- 
tions and thus " dishonoring the Revohition." 
In this connection Barras, in his Memoirs, gives 
a very interesting account of a visit he and Fre- 
ron paid to Robespierre at his lodgings in the 
house of Duplay. They were a pair of scamps 
and had but recently returned from the South, 
where they had been sent as commissioners to 
represent the republic. Their administration had 
been vile, not only corrupt, but cruel. At Toulon 
blood had flowed in streams, the rich had been 
forced to. give tribute, and the suspected in many 
instances saved their heads only by the payment 
of good round sums in gold. Reports of their 
villainous practices had reached the capital, and 
Barras and Freron upon their return to Paris 
were kept busy in calling upon the members of 
the Great Committee, making a denial of the 
charges, and explaining and defending their con- 
duct. Of course Robespierre had to be inter- 
viewed and, if possible, calmed, for he was spe- 
cially bitter in his denunciation of the rogues and 
their accomplices. In order to visit " the em- 
inent man who deigned to inhabit a humble little 
hole of a place," it was necessary to pass through 
an alley-way on both sides of which were piles 
of lumber, " the owner's stock in trade." This 
passage brought them into the yard of Duplay's 
dwelling. 

Freron, who had called at the house before, 
knew the way to Robespierre's room, and was 
about ascending the staircase when he was in- 
tercepted by Duplay's daughter, who said that 

27 



ROBESPIERRE 

the deputy was not in. A quizzical look on 
Freron's face induced her to admit the truth and 
she called up the stairs, announcing that Freron 
and another man whom she did not know 
were below. The two visitors were then per- 
mitted to go to the room above, where they met 
the little deputy. They saluted him cordially, 
but he said not a word, and gave them no sign 
of recognition. He was without his spectacles, 
and his half-closed, squinting eyes turned on them 
in a cold stare. He wore a dressing gown, and 
his face was covered with powder, for he had 
just finished shaving. In one hand he held a 
wash basin, and in the other a toilet knife, with 
which he scraped the powder off his face, 
all the while standing in front of a mirror or 
else turning to " a toilet glass hanging to a win- 
dow, looking out over the courtyard." The 
visitors kept on talking, but he paid little if any 
attention to what they were saying; in fact, he 
acted as if he were totally unmindful of their 
presence. He doffed his peignoir and flung it on 
a chair so close to his unwelcome callers that he 
covered their clothes with powder; he brushed 
his teeth and spat in their direction, treating them 
with the utmost disdain and contempt. If they 
had been honest men they would have strangled 
him, but paltroons who are in danger of losing 
their heads are not apt to resent the insults of a 
man who holds their lives in his hands. After 
the one-sided interview Barras and Freron bowed 
themselves out, but one can easily imagine what 
28 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

they said when they were alone and beyond the 
hearing of their enemy. 

UnHke Mirabeau and Danton, who themselves 
created power, Robespierre, as a wise politician, 
sought it among the people, where it resides. He 
was not a leader in the sense that this word may 
be applied to the two great men just mentioned, 
but he was a popular representative in a wider 
sense than either of them. 

As an example of what mediocrity can ac- 
complish by persistent effort Robespierre stands 
out boldly. Genius may waver or may shift 
from one thing to another, but perseverance and 
industry, backed by an indomitable will, may 
overcome almost insurmountable obstacles and 
reach results that a halting genius could never 
attain. 

Nature did not bestow upon Robespierre a sin- 
gle attribute of the orator. He was insignifi- 
cant in appearance ; his voice was thin and with- 
out a strain of pathos in its entire compass; its 
high notes, when he was emphatic, angry or im- 
passioned, were a succession of shrill squeaks. 

When he first came to Paris, " he spoke with 
the vulgar accent of his province." By constant 
practice and close observation, however, he did 
improve his pronunciation and acquired, notwith- 
standing his natural defects, a certain facility in 
off-hand speaking ; but he cannot really be classed 
with the great orators of the Convention. 

He was lacking in imagery and emotion and 
" that gift of extemporaneous speaking which 

29 



ROBESPIERRE 

pours forth the unpremeditated inspirations of 
natural eloquence." As a rule he was cold, self- 
centred, disputatious. He was not a good de- 
bater; he had not the wit, the ready repartee, the 
quickness of apprehension, the faculty of seeing 
and seizing at the moment the weak points in an 
adversary's argument, qualities that are so neces- 
sary to success in parliamentary debates or dis- 
cussions. 

His studied speeches were clear enough in 
argument but often verbose and platitudinous; 
they were frequently interlarded with classical 
quotations and allusions, and they always re- 
vealed the great care taken in their preparation; 
in fact, he was as careful in their preparation as 
he was in the making of his toilet. At times his 
speeches were so finely polished that the elo- 
quence they did contain lost much of its natural 
ring. There is often apparent the effort made 
to put his thoughts into an epigrammatic form, a 
faculty that Danton possessed to a pre-eminent 
degree. 

Yet Robespierre was, in a great measure, one 
of the most distinguished speakers of the Revo- 
lution, and it was through his speeches that he 
gained his importance and elevation. Desmou- 
lins declared that he was, at times, really elo- 
quent. Carnot was of opinion that it was his 
facility in speech that aided materially his eleva- 
tion. " D'Abord il avoit les paroles a la main." 
Cambaceres told Napoleon that the final oration 
delivered by Robespierre in the Convention 

30 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

abounded in beauties, and Charles Nodier pro- 
nounced it, " une onivre monumentale ." 

Lamartine says that although Robespierre was 
** destitute of exterior graces, he had taken so 
much pains with himself — he had meditated so 
much, written and erased so much ; he had besides 
so often braved the inattention and sarcasm of his 
audiences — that in the end he succeeded in giv- 
ing warmth and suppleness to his style and in 
transforming his whole person, despite his stiff 
and meagre figure, his shrill voice and abrupt 
gesticulation, into an engine of eloquence, of con- 
viction, and of passion." 

Garat, who at one time was minister of Jus- 
tice and the Interior, and also a member of the 
Constituent Assembly, in speaking of Robespierre 
as an orator said : " Through the insignificant 
prattle of his daily improvisations, through his 
eternal repetitions on the rights of man, on the 
sovereignty of the people, on those principles of 
which he spoke without ceasing and upon which 
he never shed a new light, there could be discov- 
ered, especially when Robespierre became impres- 
sive, the germ of a talent which was likely 
to grow, and which in its full development would 
in time become an instrument for much good or 
much evil. In his style there was an attempt to 
imitate those forms of the language which have 
elegance, nobility, and eclat. It was easy to di- 
vine that it was almost alone from Rousseau that 
he drew his inspiration." 

A very interesting description of the appear- 
31 



ROBESPIERRE 

ance and manner of Robespierre while addressing 
a meeting of the Jacobins in 1793, is given by 
Fiever. This was at a period in his hfe when he 
had had much experience in ptibHc speaking and 
when he had acquired that ease and composure 
which come only from long and constant prac- 
tice. The picture, perhaps, is somewhat over- 
drawn, but it is so graphic that we can almost 
see and hear the orator and observe his manner- 
isms, 

" Robespierre," says the writer, " came for- 
ward slowly. He was about the only one at 
this epoch who wore the costume in vogue be- 
fore the Revolution. Even his hair was dressed 
and powdered in the old style. Small, spare in 
figure, he resembled more than anything else a 
tailor of the ancient regime. He wore spectacles, 
which he either actually needed or which served 
to conceal the twitchings of his austere and com- 
mon physiognomy. His delivery was slow and 
measured, his phrases were so long that, every 
time he stopped to raise his spectacles, one would 
believe that he had nothing more to say, but after 
looking slowly and searchingly over the audi- 
ence in every quarter of the room, he would re- 
adjust his glasses and then add some phrases to 
the sentences, which were already of an unusual 
length before he had suspended speaking." Ro- 
bespierre did not command the attention of the 
Chamber in the early sessions of the States-Gen- 
eral and the National Assembly. Every time he 
rose to speak, and he was continually rising, the 
delegates would scoff and sneer at his efforts, 

32 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

smile and at times even laugh aloud; but, noth- 
ing daunted, he persisted in his purpose. " He 
preaches, he moralizes, he is grave, melancholic, 
severe in his speech," said Condorcet. " His 
whole mission consists of talking and he is almost 
always talking." 

When the great American Naval Commander, 
John Paul Jones, appeared before the As- 
sembly, the President extended to him, in a few 
graceful, well-chosen words, a most generous 
welcome, which, under all the circumstances, was 
sufficient. Robespierre, however, resolved to add 
a few compliments of his own and, although in- 
terrupted by murmurs and signs of disapproba- 
tion, he insisted upon being heard and even ap- 
pealed to the gallery to aid him in the exercise 
of his right of free speech, desisting only when 
the caustic and sarcastic Maury caused a general 
guffaw by moving that the remarks of the learned 
member be printed. 

There is nothing that so galls or chafes the 
spirit of a vain man as to make him appear 
ridiculous, and Robespierre often carried his mor- 
tification home to his humble lodgings, brooded 
over it, and then at last soothed his wounded feel- 
ings by carefully writing another speech. 

Mirabeau never joined in these insults, and 
seemed to be the only man among the deputies 
who read a sign of future greatness in his char- 
acter. The mighty, far-seeing tribune was one 
who seldom made a mistake in his judgment of 
men. He appreciated the force of that inflexible 
will, that earnestness of purpose, and remarked : 
3 33 



ROBESPIERRE 

" That man will go far, for he believes every 
word he says." 

In the early years of his career when he at- 
tempted to speak in public, Robespierre was trou- 
bled with what is termed stage-fright. He told 
Dumont that his timidity at times was so great 
that he never stood in the tribune without trem- 
bling, and that his faculties often were so absorbed 
by fear that he could hardly find strength enough 
to express himself. Yet this timid, hesitating, 
insignificant-looking creature, wanting in every 
essential quality of the natural orator, at times 
when wrought up by the excitement of the occa- 
sion became impressive and even eloquent, notably 
in his attack upon Duport and the Lameths and 
in his famous reply to Vergniaud. 

Duport, the leader of the faction known as 
the Feuillants, had insulted Robespierre by ges- 
tures and remarks made in an undertone. The 
latter, rising in his place and calmly looking at his 
tormenter said, addressing the chair : " Mon- 
sieur le President, je vous prie de dire a Monsieur 
Duport de ne pas m'insulter s'il vent rester aupres 
de nioi." Then launching forth with sarcasm 'n 
every word he said : " I do not believe that there 
exists in this Assembly men base enough to 
bargain with the court upon an article of our 
constitutional code — perfidious enough to pro- 
pose making through the court new changes, 
which shame will not suffer them to propound — 
enemy enough to the country to attempt discred- 
iting the Constitution because it restrains their 
ambition or their avarice — impudent enough to 

34 




VERGNIAUP 



From an engraving in the collection of William J. Latta. Esq. 
After a painting by Haffet 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

avow in the nation's eyes that they have sought 
in the Revolution the means of their own ele- 
vation and aggrandizement; for I will not re- 
gard certain writings and certain speeches, that 
might bear this construction, as anything but the 
passing explosion of spite, already expiated by 
repentence. No ! at least we shall not be so stupid 
nor so indifferent as to let ourselves be made the 
eternal sport of intrigue in order to overthrow 
one after another all the parts of our work at 
the pleasure of a few ambitious men. 

" I demand that every one of you swear that 
he never will consent to make a compromise with 
the executive power upon any article of the Con- 
stitution on pain of being declared a traitor to 
the nation," 

In view of the fact that the Feuillants were en- 
deavoring to counteract the Revolution by the 
establishment of a constitutional monarchy, and 
were suspected of negotiating with the court, the 
effect of the speech may well be imagined. The 
party of Duport and the Lameths had been los- 
ing ground, but this arraignment was their po- 
litical death-knell. 

The reply to Vergniaud we shall have occa- 
sion to refer to hereafter, and it will be found, 
in many respects, to be stronger even than the 
speech just quoted. 

One of the most interesting and dramatic 
speeches that Robespierre ever made was towards 
the end of his career, when he described the in- 
cident of Barra, the boy drummer. 

Barra was thirteen years of age and had en- 
35 



ROBESPIERRE 

listed in the army sent to suppress an insurrec- 
tion of the- " Whites " in La Vendee. While 
beating the charge he unfortunately approached 
too near the lines of the enemy. Surrounded by 
the rebels, who hesitated to shoot a child, he was 
ordered to shout : " Long live the king." The 
little fellow's defiant answer to the challenge was : 
" Long live the republic ! " Immediately a bul- 
let pierced his heart and he fell dead. The mere 
telling of such a story would arouse unbounded 
enthusiasm and sympathy, but Robespierre pro- 
duced so great an effect in relating it that the 
Convention voted to transport the remains of the 
little hero to the Pantheon. 

Among the prepared speeches of Robespierre 
that one on the abolition of the punishment of 
death, delivered May 30, 1 791, is a good example 
of his pedantic and ornamented style. It seems 
almost impossible to believe that the opening lines 
could have fallen from the lips of a man who, not 
long afterwards, argued so strenuously for the 
death of the king, urged the condemnation and 
execution of the Girondins, and secured the pas- 
sage of the law of the 22nd Prairial. 

"The news having been carried to Athens that 
some citizens had been sentenced to death in the 
town of Argos, the people ran into the temples 
and conjured the gods to turn the Athenians away 
from purposes so cruel and wicked. I am going 
to implore, not the gods, but the legislators, who 
ought to be the organs and the interpreters of 
the eternal laws which the Divinity has pre- 
scribed for men, to efface from the code of the 
36 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

French people the laws of blood which sanction 
judicial murders and which reflect upon the man- 
ners and the new Constitution of France. I wish 
to prove in the first place that the punishment of 
death is essentially unjust, and in the second 
place that it is not the most repressive of pun- 
ishments; it multiplies crimes much more than it 
prevents them." 

As a statesman it is difficult to classify Ro- 
bespierre. 

Of course it must be admitted that he did not 
have the constructive intellect and ability, the 
broad and liberal views, or the practical instincts 
of Mirabeau and Danton — qualities that made 
these men pre-eminently great. 

*' I have always believed," said Marat, " that 
Robespierre unites the integrity of a thoroughly 
honest man and the zeal of a good patriot with 
the enlightenment of a wise senator, but that he 
is without either the views or the audacity of a 
real statesman." 

He was a man of abstract ideas, not of great 
practical conceptions, and vast projects; he had 
no originality, possessed no qualities of inven- 
tion; he was a man of words, not of deeds; he 
had talent but was without genius. 

Like many of his colleagues of that period, 
Robespierre was too visionary and spent much of 
his time in elaborating theories. He never had 
an opportunity to do more during the stormy 
years of the Revolution than to tear down ; when 
his chance came to build up he was overthrown 
and sent to the scaffold. It is a grave question. 



ROBESPIERRE 

however, whether he could have succeeded in es- 
tabhshing a firm government, for he was greatly 
wanting in organizing ability. He was not a 
man of action like St. Just; a worker like Bil- 
laud-Varennes, or a master of detail like Carnot. 
He saw the weakness and the dangers incident to 
a government by committee, and announced him- 
self in favor of a strong and an individual execu- 
tive, advocating the centralization of power; but 
it is doubtful whether he could have planned such 
a form of government successfully. 

He favored equality before the law, compul- 
sory education, and religious toleration to the 
fullest degree, and maintained that " civil society 
has no other foundation than morals." If he 
believed in a Reign of Terror, it was as a means 
to secure a Reign of Virtue. 

Bitterly opposing all class distinctions, he was 
an advocate of the purest democracy. His views 
on property are fully set forth in his remarkable 
speech of April 24, 1793, but they are in the main 
simply a reflection of the ideas of Rousseau. 
In the beginning of his argument, in referring 
to an agrarian law, he declared that it was only 
a phantom created by knaves to frighten fools, 
and that the idea of a community of goods 
was a mere chimera. Like St. Just, however, 
he believed opulence was a crime, and it was 
upon his motion that the Jacobin Club passed the 
resolutions favoring the limiting by law of the 
amount of individual possessions. 



38 



CHAPTER II 

DIVERSITY OF OPINION AS TO THE CHARACTER AND 
THE PURPOSES OF ROBESPIERRE 

Few men in all history have been so vilified, 
execrated, and held up to public scorn and con- 
demnation as Robespierre. His name is still, in 
some quarters, the synonym for cruelty and for 
selfish ambition. All the vices and excesses of 
the Revolution are laid at his door. His de- 
tractors cannot find language severe enough to 
express their detestation ; while on the other hand 
his admirers go too far in the opposite direction 
and laud him in the most extravagant terms. 
Between these two extremes is to be found his 
real character. 

" Of all men of the Revolution," says Mor- 
ley, " he has suffered most from the audacious 
idolatry of some writers and the splenetic im- 
patience of others." " His memory," says a dis- 
tinguished author, " is an enigma of which his- 
tory trembles to pronounce the solution, fearing 
to do him injustice if she brand it as crime, or 
to create horror if she should term it virtue." 

While in many ways he was detestible, it must 
in all candor be admitted that he had some qual- 
ities that command respect if not admiration. 

Mirabeau was impressed with his strength and 

39 



ROBESPIERRE 

decision of character and showed him marked 
respect. 

Couthon, a man of great ability, and St. Just, 
were devoted friends and loyal to the last. His 
brother, who was fondly attached to him, went 
willingly with him to the scaffold, and his sister 
Charlotte, a woman of lovely character, believed 
absolutely in his sincerity and integrity of pur- 
pose and risked her life at the time of his arrest 
by attempting to minister to his wants. 

David, the painter, had a high regard for him, 
and in addressing his sons said : " You will be 
told that Robespierre was a villain; he will be 
painted to you in the most hideous colors; do 
not believe a word of it. The day will come 
when history will render him the fullest jus- 
tice." 

Napoleon believed that his intentions were hon- 
orable and patriotic. " His plan," declared Cam- 
baceres, " after having overturned the furious 
factions, was to return to a system of order and 
moderation." 

" It is possible," says Belloc, " that he may 
take, centuries hence, the appearance of majesty. 
. . . We are accustomed to clothe such fig- 
ures with a solemn drapery and to lend them at 
great distances of time a certain terrible gran- 
deur." 

Already he is beginning to be better under- 
stood; distance is giving the necessary perspec- 
tive; time is removing the intolerance and preju- 
dice of the past ; and he is at least receiving credit 
for the virtues he did possess. However, as La- 
40 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

martine says, " This man was and must ever 
remain shadowy and undefined." 

There is no question but that, at the time of 
his death, he was looked upon as a sanguinary 
monster, bent on extermination and almost wholly 
to blame for the then recent terrible carnage. 
The reports, studiously put into circulation by 
his enemies to cover up their own crimes, gave 
him this reputation. " Passenger ! lament not his 
fate; for if he were living, thou wouldst be 
dead," was suggested as an appropriate epitaph. 

Josephine Beauharnais, in her Memoirs, re- 
lates the following interesting incident, which 
shows with what delight, in some quarters, his 
death was hailed. 

One day while standing at the window of the 
prison, with Madame d' Aiguillon, and looking 
out into the yard below, Josephine saw a woman 
endeavoring to attract her attention by making 
signs. The woman constantly held up her gown 
(robe) and Josephine made a motion with her 
lips as if pronouncing the word " Robe." A 
nodding of the head made answer that this was 
right, and then the woman lifted up a stone and 
put it in her apron. Josephine said " pierre," and 
the woman fairly danced for joy when she saw 
that her signs were understood, and at once imi- 
tated the motion of cutting off the head. This 
singular pantomime was interpreted by the ladies 
to mean that Robespierre was no more. Just at 
that moment there was a noise in the corridor, 
and the hoarse voice of the gaoler was heard 
scolding his dog and cursing him for a brute of 

41 



ROBESPIERRE 

a Robespierre, and from this the ladies took fresh 
hope and courage, and felt that they " had noth- 
ing to fear and that France was saved." 

Of course, wherever the emigrants were as- 
sembled, their demonstrations of joy were beyond 
all bounds. Madame de Genlis, at one time a 
mistress of the Duke of Orleans, gives an amus- 
ing account of how the news was brought to her. 
She was living in a boarding-house, filled with 
emigrants, in Dresden. At midnight, just as the 
clock was striking the hour, a knock at the door 
aroused her from her revery. Calling out to the 
unexpected visitor to come in, she was the next 
moment struggling in the arms of a bald-headed 
old gentleman, a fellow lodger, who insisted upon 
kissing her because the news had reached town 
that Robespierre was dead. When satisfied of 
the truth of the report, she " conscientiously re- 
turned his embrace." 

Barere who, it must not be forgotten, was a 
member of the Great Committee in the height of 
its power and during the period of carnage after 
the death of Danton, wrote in his Memoirs: 
" One must speak of Robespierre when one 
wishes to represent France devoured by the most 
sanguinary and disgusting despotism; one must 
condescend to pronounce that execrable name, 
when one wishes to paint the genius of crime and 
calumny, demoralizing the souls, digging tombs 
at the side of the prepared scaffolds, destroying 
all social ideas, overthrowing property, oppressing 
the representation of the people, and making war 
on talent and genius like the Visigoths." Barere 

42 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

was one of the men who, while filling the death 
carts with innocent victims during the " Reign of 
Terror," circulated the reports that threw the 
blame upon Robespierre at a time when the lat- 
ter, although a member of the Committee, was 
purposely absenting himself from its sessions. It 
was this same Barere whose ingenuity invented 
the story that Robespierre intended to marry the 
captive daughter of Louis XVI and then pro- 
claim himself king. 

Mignet, in his history of the French Revo- 
lution, declares that Robespierre " had the qualifi- 
cations for tyranny; a soul not great, it is true, 
but not common; the advantage of one sole 
passion ; the appearance of patriotism ; a deserved 
reputation for incorruptibility; an austere life; 
and no aversion to the effusion of blood." 

Michelet speaks conservatively but cannot al- 
together make up his mind as to the real charac- 
ter of this " honest man who adheres to princi- 
ples ; a man of talent and austere morality." 

Lamartine asserts that " his death was the date 
and not the cause of the cessation of terror. 
Deaths would have ceased by his triumph as they 
did by his death." 

"He opened the veins of the social body to' 
cure the disease; but he allowed life to flow out, 
pure or impure, with indifference, without casting! 
himself between the victims and the execution- 
ers." 

" He did not desire evil and yet accepted it." 

For eighteen months, he allowed his name to 
serve as the standard of the scaffold, and the 
43 



ROBESPIERRE 

justification of death. He hoped subsequently 
to redeem that which is never redeemed — pres- 
ent crime — through the purity, the hoHness of 
future institutions. 

" He was intoxicated with the perspective of 
pubHc felicity, while France was palpitating on 
the block." 

" He besmeared with blood the purest doc- 
trines of democracy. . . . His principles 
were sterile and fatal like his proscriptions, and 
he died exclaiming with the despondency of 
Brutus ' the Republic perishes with me.' He 
was in effect, at that moment, the soul of the 
Republic and it vanished with his last sigh." 

" He was," says Thiers, " of the worst species 
of men, one of the most odious beings that ever 
ruled over men, and the very vilest, if he had not 
possessed a strong conviction and an acknowl- 
edged integrity." 

M. d'Hericault describes him as a fiend in hu- 
man form, while Louis Blanc holds him in high 
esteem, and M. Hamel, his most enthusiastic 
biographer, becomes really fulsome in his lauda- 
tion. 

Lord Brougham, in his interesting sketch of 
Robespierre, describing him from the English 
point of view, says : " In fine, that he was be- 
yond most men that ever lived, hateful, selfish, 
unprincipled, cruel, unscrupulous is undeniable. 

. . All the revolutionary chiefs were his 
superiors in the one great quality of courage. 
. . . his want of boldness, his abject pov- 
erty of spirit made him as despicable as he was 
44 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

odious. Such was Robespierre — a name at 
which all men still shudder." 

The same writer on another page describes 
him as " one of the most execrable and most 
despicable characters recorded in the annals of 
our race." 

Sir Walter Scott says : " He appears to have 
possessed little talent, saving- a deep fund of 
hypocrisy and considerable powers of sophistry. 
It seemed wonderful that even the seething and 
boiling of the revolutionary cauldron should 
have sent up from the bottom and long sup- 
ported on the surface a thing so miserably void 
of claims to public distinction." Scott further 
calls him " a vain, cowardly calculating mis- 
creant " and declares that his crimes were per- 
petrated in cold blood and upon mature delib- 
eration. 

At times Carlyle cannot find words strong 
enough to denounce this " creature " whom he 
repeatedly, monotonously, refers to as " Sea- 
green Incorruptible." " Consider," he says, 
" Maximilien Robespierre ; for the greater part 
of two years what one may call Autocrat of 
France. A poor sea-green (verddtre), atrabiliar 
formula of a man; without head, without heart, 
or any grace, gift or even vice beyond common, 
if it were not vanity, astucity, diseased rigor 
(which some count strength) as of a cramp; 
really a most poor sea-green individual in specta- 
cles ; meant by nature for a Methodist parson of 
the stricter sort, to doom men who departed from 
the written confession; to chop fruitless shrill 

45 



ROBESPIERRE 

logic; to contend and suspect and ineffectually 
wrestle and wriggle, and on the whole to love or 
to know, or to be (properly speaking) Nothing: 
— this was he who, the sport of wracking winds, 
saw himself whirled aloft to command la pre- 
miere nation de I'linivers, and all men shouting 
long life to him; one of the most lamentable, 
tragic sea-green objects ever whirled aloft in that 
manner, in any country, to his own swift destruc- 
tion and the world's long wonder." 

Lord Macaulay describes him as " a vain, en- 
vious, and suspicious man with a hard heart, 
weak nerves, and a gloomy temper," and then 
adds : " But we cannot with truth deny that he 
was, in a vulgar sense of the word, disinterested, 
that his private life was correct, or that he was 
sincerely zealous for his own system of politics 
and morals." 

In opposition to these views, Bronterre 
O'Brien, an English author, looks upon Robes- 
pierre as " little less than divinity " — he inti- 
mates, at times, that he is almost " godlike." 
George Henry Lewes is a warm eulogist, and 
sees in Robespierre a man " who in his heart be- 
lieved the gospel proclaimed by the Revolution 
to be the real gospel of Christianity, and who 
vainly endeavored to arrest anarchy and to shape 
society into order by means of his convictions." 

Sir Thomas Erskine May, in his " Democracy 
in Europe," calls him the " terrible " Robespierre 
and refers to his career as " blood-stained," but 
adds " he was a fanatic who believed in terror 
as a sacred duty and, although blind to justice 

46 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

and insensible to the common principles of hu- 
manity, although his cold and calculated cruelties 
are without a parallel in the history of nations, 
was planning a model republic representing all 
the virtues." 

H. Morse Stephens has not much respect for 
his capacity, but believes he was sincere in his 
purposes. 

John Morley can see nothing to admire in a 
man who was a pedant, a spinster in politics, of 
profound and pitiable incompetence, cursed with 
an ambition to be a ruler. 

( Hilaire Belloc declares that he had " the re- 
serve, the dignity, the intense idealism, the per- 
fect belief in himself, the certitude that others 
were in sympathy — all the characteristics, in 
fine, which distinguish the Absolutists and the 
great Reformers. In his iron code of theory 
we seem to hear the ghost of a Calvin; in his 
reiterated morals and his perpetual application 
of them, there is the occasional sharp reminiscence 
of a Hildebrand. The famous death cry: "I 
have loved justice and hated iniquity, therefore 
I die in exile," is not so far distant from " de 
mourir pour le penple et d'en etre abhorre " — 
" to die for the people and to be abhorred by 
them." 
I Watson, in his " Story of France," describes 
him as a " Puritan fanatic wedded to politics." 
" In all the Assembly," he says, " there was not 
a member more conscientious, more intense, more 
inflexible, more determined to do thoroughly the 
work in hand. . . . However chimerical, 
47 



ROBESPIERRE 

Robespierre's ideals were lofty and he lived by 
them and died for them." 

Dr. Jan Ten Brink, the Dutch historian, in his 
" Robespierre and the Red Terror," says : " He 
was the advocate of the purest Jacobinism pro- 
ceeding from the philosophical fancies on politi- 
cal law of a dilettante like Rousseau." After 
commenting upon the injustice of the Law of the 
22nd Prairial, the writer adds : " Still, in spite 
of all, he was an honorable character, a spirit 
fired with the noblest ideals — but a statesman 
without practical ability, an obstinate fanatic, des- 
titute of genius." 

Where there is such a diversity of opinion 
about the character of a man it simply proves 
that he must have possessed good as well as bad 
qualities, and, when the mist disappears and he 
comes out of the shadows of the past, his figure 
will be more distinctly seen and his personality 
more clearly defined. He had not the qualities 
of heart and mind that make men great and his- 
tory will never place his name among the illustri- 
ous; he was not an amiable nor a lovable 
character and he never will arouse the world's en- 
thusiasm, but a careful study of his life will 
prove that he was not without some redeeming 
features and that he was not the unmitigated 
monster that he was once painted. He was a 
product of the eventful and exceptional times in 
which he lived. 



48 



CHAPTER III 

BIRTH OF ROBESPIERRE FAMILY EDUCATION 

COMES TO THE BAR 

Maximilien Marie Isidore Robespierre was 
born May 6, 1758, at Arras in the province of 
Artois. There is a tradition that the family 
came originally from Ireland, the name of the 
first immigrant being Robert Spear. 

Prior to the Revolution there was a de in the 
name, which suggests a noble origin ; but beyond 
this there appears to be no proof nor sign of a 
patrician strain in the blood. 

Maximilien was the eldest of four children, 
one of whom died in infancy. He had a brother, 
named Augustin, who went with him to the 
scaffold, and a sister, Charlotte, who survived 
him forty years. 

His father, Maximilien Barthelemy Frangois 
de Robespierre, was a lawyer who ruined himself 
by prodigality. He left France long before the 
Revolution to avoid his impatient and dunning 
creditors and opened a school at Cologne. Sub- 
sequently he went to England and some writers 
say settled at last in America. In his later years 
he kept his friends in ignorance as to his where- 
abouts and almost every trace of him was lost 

It is said that he died in Munich. 
4 49 



ROBESPIERRE 

\. Robespierre's mother's maiden name was Jac- 
queline Carrault; she was the daughter of a 
brewer and died about 1768. 

Young MaximiHen was brought up by his ma- 
ternal grandfather and by his aunts. The Bishop 
of Arras subsequently took him under his pro- 
tection and in time had him entered as a bursar 
in the College of Louis le Grand at Paris. In 
this institution he made rapid progress in his 
studies and merited his promotions; he was most 
diligent as a student and gave promise of talent 
that was not altogether realized. At this early 
age he was diffident and secretive, but displayed 
at all times a proud and an independent spirit. 

He was not the normal robust, rugged lad, 
full of fun and tussle, and consequently he took 
no part in the rough sports of the campus; in 
fact, he showed no inclination to indulge in any 
games. Among his schoolmates were Desmou- 
lins, Freron, and Le Brun. 

One of the professors, an accomplished Latin 
scholar, took a special interest in MaximiHen 
and imbued him with a lasting admiration for 
the ancients. The teacher was so impressed with 
the boy's love for equality and republicanism that 
he called him " The Roman." 

He was the prize scholar of the school and, in 
1775, when Louis XVI entered Paris, Robes- 
pierre was chosen by his fellow students to pre- 
sent their homage to the king. 

He remained in this institution for ten years, 
and so correct had he been in his conduct, so 
assiduous in his studies, that at the time of his 
50 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

graduation he was rewarded by a special com- 
mendation and a gift of 600 livres. 

There was no part of his Hfe devoted to what 
is called wild oat sowing. 

Deciding upon the law as his profession, he re- 
turned to his native town and, after the required 
preparation, was admitted to the bar and straight- 
way settled down to the duties of a village at- 
torney. As he was too poor, at first, to pay rent 
for an office, he occupied a room in his uncle's 
house. He soon acquired the reputation of be- 
ing a careful, painstaking lawyer and gave prom- 
ise of developing into a brilliant advocate. 

Even at this early period he was most par- 
ticular in the matter of his dress ; in fact, in the 
opinion of many of his staid townsmen, he was 
somewhat of a dandy and no doubt in this respect 
often provoked the sly criticisms of his country 
clients. 

He was fond of birds and flowers and ap- 
peared to be a great lover of nature, often wan- 
dering for hours in the fields and woods in silent 
meditation. 

Occasionally he indited a poem that called 
forth the unstinted admiration of the literary 
circle of the town, and, of course, the rhapsodies 
of its maidens. 

He sought and obtained admission to member- 
ship in the Rosati Club, a literary society with 
more than a local reputation, for it was well 
known among cultured people throughout 
France. Carnot was also connected with the 
same association. It took its name from the fact 

51 



ROBESPIERRE 

that roses were the prizes bestowed on successful 
competitors. When a new member was admitted 
to the chib, he was presented with a rose, drank 
a toast in rosewater to his fellows, and recited a 
poem of his own composition. A picture of 
Robespierre, painted about this time in his life, 
represents him as a young man with a weak, sim- 
pering face, and dressed in the height of fashion, 
holding a rose in his hand. 
( Several of his poems, written at this period, 
are still in existence; but they possess small lit- 
erary merit. His mind was not touched with the 
divine spark; the Revolution did not quench in 
him the ardor of a heart " pregnant with celes- 
tial fire." 

In a literary contest, under the auspices of the 
Academy of Metz, he carried off the second 
premium, a gold medal. The subject of the es- 
say which secured him this honor was : " Quelle 
est I'origine du prejuge qui etend sur la famille 
d'un coupahle, I'opprobre attache aux peines qui 
ont He decernees contre lui? Le prejuge est il 
utile? Quels serainf les mo gens de le detruire? " 
— " What is the origin of the prejudice which 
inflicts upon the families of criminals some stigma 
of their punishment, and what method should be 
adopted to destroy it?" 

Robespierre eloquently maintained that the 
prejudice was barbarous and that as death by the 
scaffold, that is, decapitation by the headsman, 
was reserved wholly for criminal offenders of 
noble blood, the prejudice in a great measure 
could be done away with by removing all dis- 

52 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

tinctions and declaring all citizens equal before 
the law. The following apt and scholarly quo- 
tation from Virgil was adopted by Robespierre 
as a motto for his essay : " Quod genus hoc 
hominufm qucBve hunc tarn barbara morem per- 
mittit patria." This selection may be taken as a 
fair index of his commanding knowledge of the 
classics. 

He also received an honorable mention from 
the Academy of Amiens for a eulogy on Cresset, 
the celebrated author of Vert- Vert. 

He had a nice literary taste, was fond of 
Racine, and loved to read his plays aloud. He 
also found much delight in the poems of Ossian, 
but his favorite author was Rousseau. Over the 
pages of that great philosopher he would hang 
for hours, imbibing peculiar and false principles 
of justice and equality, and mentally rearing upon 
the wildest theories of that dreamer an insub- 
stantial ideal government for mankind. In 1778 
he visited Rousseau at Ermenonville. From 
many points the interview must have been in- 
teresting, for the great master, among all his 
followers, never had a more devoted or more 
faithful disciple. " Robespierre was a thorough 
Puritan at heart," says Stephens, " and believed 
in the maxims of Rousseau as thoroughly as ever 
member of the Long Parliament believed in the 
Bible." 

Although naturally shy and retiring, he was 
fond of the society of young women, but for some 
reason never mustered courage sufficient to take 
a wife. Michelet tells of a certain maiden of 

S3 



ROBESPIERRE 

Arras who swore she would espouse no one but 
Robespierre, but in his absence she forgot her 
ardent declaration and upon his return from a 
journey he found her married. He once wrote 
a gallant little poem dedicated to a young woman 
whom he addressed as " belle Ophelie," but who 
she was is not known. There is a romantic story 
about his having had a tender affection in his 
later years for Eleonore, the eldest daughter of 
Duplay, but it is without any substantial proof. 

As we consider him, at this period of his life, 
when he was writing poetry, composing essays, 
competing for literary prizes, and laying the foun- 
dation of a law practice, who could believe that 
this little foppish visionary provincial lawyer 
would become, in the course of a few years, the 
leader of the Revolution during the days of the 
" Reign of Terror " ? So tender-hearted was he 
at this time, that he actually wept over the death 
of a pet dove. He was appointed judge of the 
Criminal court, but was so affected by a capital, 
sentence he was required to impose upon a pris-| 
oner, whose guilt was unquestioned, that he re- 
signed the office. 

An incident which occurred in his early profes- 
sional career shows him to have been thankless 
and forgetful of past favors. A number of peas- 
ants, who complained of being oppressed by the 
Bishop of Arras, retained Robespierre to repre- 
sent them in a suit. He accepted the case and 
fought it most zealously in its every stage. This 
was the real essence and substance of ingrati- 
tude; for, when he had been a waif, it was this 

54 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

very bishop who had protected him and had pro- 
cured his admission to the College of Louis le 
Grand. He was under life-long obligations to 
this generous benefactor, and one can conceive 
of no conditions that should have induced him 
to oppose his friend and former patron. His 
excuse, doubtless, was that there was a principle 
involved in the case, and that friendship should 
not restrain nor even influence a man in the dis- 
charge of an imperative duty. Such an excuse 
was not sufficient reason for his action in this 
case. Robespierre was just the man, controlled 
by the spirit of the fanatic, who would have sac- 
rificed even friendship in the cause of some im- 
aginary truth. The remembrance of past favors 
was never one of his virtues. There were other 
attorneys who could have taken the suit, the 
peasants could easily have secured representa- 
tion, justice need not have gone begging. 

Justin McCarthy puts a different phase upon 
this matter, and says that the bishop was so 
impressed with the ability shown by his protege 
in his conduct of the case that he personally com- 
plimented and congratulated him. This was very 
generous on the part of the bishop, but it does 
not relieve the lawyer from the charge of ingrati- 
tude. 

In 1783 Robespierre pleaded successfully in fa- 
(yor of the first Franklin lightning rod. M. Vis- 
sery, a well-known landowner in the province of 
Artois, had been an ambassador to the young 
American republic and, while in the new world, 
had investigated as to the use and safety of this 

55 



ROBESPIERRE 

then remarkable invention. Upon his return to 
France he attached a rod to his dwelHng. The 
clergy in the neighborhood aroused the fears and 
the superstition of the peasants by intimating that 
it was impious to provoke the wrath of God by 
attempting to direct or divert the course of His 
thunderbolts, and an effort was made to restrain 
the use of so wicked a contrivance. Robespierre 
was retained to represent the defendant and he 
won the suit. In the trial he proved that the 
king, Louis XVI, had erected a rod on one of 
his own castles. In the course of his argument 
he used the following remarkable language, re- 
markable in view of subsequent events : " This 
proof is undeniable and I call to witness the senti- 
ments of the whole of France for a prince who 
is her pride and her glory." 

In the library of the University of Pennsyl- 
vania is the following letter written by Robes- 
pierre to Benjamin Franklin, which accompanied 
a printed copy of the speech made by Robespierre 
in this case. 

-~ Sir : A sentence of proscription rendered by the 
magistrates of St. Omer against the use of electri- 
cal conductors has given me the opportunity of 
pleading before the council of Artois the cause of a 
sublime discovery, for which discovery mankind is 
indebted to you. The desire of aiding in eradicat- 
ing the prejudices which oppose its progress in our 
province induced me to print the speech I made in 
the case. I dare to hope, my dear sir, that you will 
deign to accept with kindness a copy of this work, 
the object of which was to persuade my fellow citi- 
56 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

zens to accept one of your benefactions ; happy in 
having been able to be useful to my country in in- 
ducing its first magistrates to welcome this impor- 
tant discovery ; still more happy if I can join to this 
advantage the honor of obtaining the approbation 
of a man of whom the least merit is that of being 
the most illustrious savant of the universe, 
I have the honor to be with respect, 
Monsieur, 

Your very humble and very 
obedient servant, 
DE Robespierre, 
advocat au conseil d'Artois. 
At Arras, i October, 1783. 

/• — ■- 

' In 1784 he represented a young girl who had 

been charged by a monk with having stolen a 
bag containing a large sum of money from the 
monastery of Saint Sauveur. Robespierre 
proved that the accusation was a wicked fabri- 
cation resulting from the monk's rage and dis- 
appointment, because he could not induce the 
girl to accede to dishonorable proposals. Robes-' 
pierre's sister, in referring to his professional 
career, said that he was always ready to defend 
the oppressed, and that under no circumstances 
would he take a case that was without merit. 

It will be seen that he was engaged in a fairly 
active practice, was retained in important suits, 
and was on the way to the leadership of his local 
bar. 

Looked upon as a man of learning by his 
provincial neighbors, and with a growing reputa- 
tion and practice as a lawyer, he occupied a posi- 

57 



ROBESPIERRE 

tion that was to be envied. It was Caesar who 
said he would rather be the first man in a village 
than the second in Rome. It was unfortunate 
for Robespierre that the Revolution disturbed 
his quietude and changed the current of his life. 



SB 



CHAPTER IV 

FRANCE — LOUIS XIII LOUIS XIV VERSAILLES 

LOUIS XV ACCESSION OF LOUIS XVI THE 

CAUSES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION TRANS- 
FORMING PERIODS — RESULTS OF THE FRENCH 
REVOLUTION. 

After the fall of the Roman empire, the 
Franks, a bold and hardy tribe of men from the 
north, a branch of the great Teutonic nation, 
overthrew the Gauls, assumed sway over Gallia 
and established in time the monarchy of France. 
The victors, as was usual in those days, imposed 
upon the vanquished a cruel servitude, which de- 
veloped gradually into a harsh and well-defined 
system of feudalism. 

1 A long and bitter struggle for supremacy en- 
sued between the kings and the nobles and finally, 
under the administration of Richelieu, the able 
and adroit minister of Louis XIII, all power was 
centred in the monarch; but it was in the reign 
of Louis XIV that the absolutism of the king 
reached its full vigor. 

Louis XIV was a remarkable character; he 
played the role of king with consummate skill, 
induced the devotion and reverence of his fol- 
lowers and the admiration and fear of his rivals 
and enemies. " No earthly sovereign could be 
59 



ROBESPIERRE 

surrounded by greater state," says May, " or ap- 
proached with deeper reverence." 

As monarch he was absolute lord of the realm ; 
the lives and the liberties of the citizens were in 
his hands and he looked upon the kingdom as his 
own personal estate. All power was concen- 
trated in him; he exercised the sovereignty of 
government ; his word was law ; his wish had the 
force of a statute; he disbursed the taxes, made 
war and concluded peace, formed treaties, coined 
money, and regulated commerce. There was no 
legislative body between him and the people. The 
Parliament of France was a court of law, and its 
only office, in so far as legislation was concerned, 
was to register the king's decrees. 

Versailles was not merely the residence of the 
king, but was also the centre of the empire. 
Here all the rays of power and glory focused; 
here were dispensed honors, privileges and pen- 
sions; and here were seen in dazzling splendor 
the pomp and magnificence of royalty. " The 
fetes of Louis XVI," says Martin, " exceeded 
everything of which romancers had dreamed." 

May 6, 1692, is a most important and memora- 
ble date in the history of France, for on this day 
the palace of Versailles was first occupied as the 
regal residence of the Great Louis. It was at 
this time that many of the nobility abandoned 
their chateaux and took up their abode at the 
court to be in daily attendance upon the king. 
Not only did they abandon their estates, but at 
the same time surrendered their freedom and in- 
60 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

dependence, becoming mere lackeys and retainers 
of the king. While residing on their manors 
they had defended their tenants against invaders, 
had protected them from robbers, and in the ma- 
norial courts had settled their disputes; but the 
tie between the lord and his vassal was broken 
when the former took up his residence at the 
court and his absence from his manor trans- 
formed him from a generous patron into a selfish 
and an exacting master, for it required the col- 
lection of every sou due under his seignorial 
rights to maintain his extravagance at the seat 
of royalty. 

Fabulous sums had been expended, consid- 
erably over 500,000,000 francs, in the erection 
of the palace at Versailles. Nothing of the kind 
approached it in magnificence since the days of 
the Golden House of Nero, Gardens, fountains, 
avenues, works of art, flower-covered terraces, 
made the place a fairy-land. It is impossible to 
estimate even approximately the enormous cost 
of all this beauty and splendor, for the king him- 
self, startled, perhaps, at his own extravagance, 
destroyed the accounts. 

In the palace were at least 10,000 persons and 
half as many more in the surrounding buildings 
in constant attendance upon the court. Dukes, 
peers of the realm, princes of the Church, put up 
with all sorts of inconveniences in order to form 
a part of the royal household and to wait upon 
the king. It was deemed an honor to tie his 
shoe, to adjust his cravat or to buckle on his 
61 



ROBESPIERRE 

sword; the slightest service of this kind at the 
king's levees ^ carried with it distinction and a 
pension. 

Balls, fetes, festivities, to the exclusion of all 
else, occupied the days and the nights of the 
courtiers. Gambling was one of the principal 
amusements and fortunes were sometimes risked 
on the turn of a card. Often the king had to pay 
the losses of his favorites to prevent a public 
scandal. 

Luxury and extravagance sapped the sub- 
stance of the State and every day the gulf be- 
tween the commonalty and the privileged classes 
grew wider and deeper. 

It was Versailles that swallowed up the wealth 
of the realm, corrupted the nobility, and impov- 
erished the people. The gentle and pious Fene- 
lon, sick at heart because of the misery that pre- 
vailed everywhere throughout the kingdom, de- 
clared that France was " simply a great hospital 
full of woe and empty of food." 

Of course, in the conflict that had been waged 
by the kings and the nobles for supremacy, the 
rights of the people had been crushed as between 
the upper and the nether mill-stone, and yet no 
people were ever more devotedly attached to their 
kings than the French. They distinguished 
them by designations such as the Wise, the Just, 
the Good, the Great and the most vicious of them 
all was called the Well-Beloved. 

Louis XV was a voluptuary who would squan- 
der in a night's debauch the wealth of a province. 

iSee "Mirabeau and the French Revolution," p. 57. 
62 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

Rome in her decline produced no emperors more 
dissolute in their habits and more capricious and 
arbitrary in their exercise of power. Though 
Caligula, Nero, Domitian, Commodus, and Cara- 
calla were more cruel and sanguinary in dis- 
position, they were not a whit more depraved in 
their tastes; in fact, Louis was not far removed 
from the class of rulers of which Heliogabalus 
is the type. Under his reign harlots swayed the 
rod of empire and ruled the destinies of France. 

Upon Madame de Pompadour, who was not 
only his concubine but his procuress, he showered 
the wealth of the kingdom, and his gifts to 
Madame DuBarry, notwithstanding the demoral- 
ized condition of the finances, amounted to up- 
wards of 175,000,000 livres in five years. 

The settlement of grave political questions 
often depended upon his passing mood or mere 
caprice or the influence of his favorite mistress. 
In his hours of dalliance, she would coax and 
wheedle out of him titles, distinctions, and pen- 
sions, and then shower them with a lavish hand 
upon her friends, who in most instances had ren- 
dered the State no service and were totally un- 
worthy of either honor or promotion. States- 
men, generals, cardinals, bishops, scholars, and 
men of letters followed fawningly in her train 
and were obsequious suppliants for her favors. 
Time-serving politicians, parlor soldiers, and 
unctuous prelates paid her homage and reached 
high station. Flattery and adulation, instead of 
worth and merit, were the means to win recog- 
nition and advancement. 

63 



ROBESPIERRE 

The court was a nest of luxury, lechery, in- 
trigue, frivolity, and vice; a refined and polished 
etiquette alone gave it the semblance of decency 
and virtue. 

To maintain this profligacy and extravagance 
required an oppressive system of taxation, and 
the last sou was taken from the purses of the poor 
to replenish the national treasury. The peasant 
was ground down by a tyranny that consumed his 
very substance. 

" He could not pay gahelle and tax 
And feed his children, so he died. 

It is, you know, a common story, 
"' Our children's food is eaten up 
By courtiers, mistresses and glory.") 

The death of the king was the only oppor- 
tunity for relief from this iniquitous rule, and at 
last, worn out by luxury, liquor, and harlots, 
Louis the " Well-Beloved " fell the victim of a 
fatal and loathsome disease, which disease, it is 
said, he contracted from a young girl brought 
to his bed to warm the blood of the wasted old 
roue. 

After he was gone, the nation looked forward, 
with hope, to the reign of a prince who had the 
reputation of being virtuous and sympathetic. 

Louis XVI, ^ during his grandfather's degrad- 
ing reign, was affectionately named " Le De- 
sire." His accession was hailed with delight and 
as a happy and fortunate deliverance from the 

^ See " Danton and the French Revolution," p. 55. 
64 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

profligate and licentious rule o£ his predecessor; 
but, after coming to the throne, he failed to meet 
the expectations of his people, for although he 
was not vicious, he was utterly incompetent. " A 
king steeped in vices and immoralities might pos- 
sibly have saved us," exclaimed Count de Tilly, 
" but we were fated to perish through a king 
whose weakness neutralized all his virtues." Al- 
though in favor of reforrns he knew not how to 
effect them. 

The extravagance of the new court impover- 
ished the people and its scandals disgraced the 
nation as had those of the old. " Versailles," 
declared the king's brother, " has for some time 
past been a meeting place for scarlet women, 
intriguing priests, and servile noblemen." " The 
court of France," said the Emperor Joseph, the 
brother of Marie Antoinette, " is a gambling hell, 
and if they do not mend their ways the revolu- 
tion will be cruel." 

The courtiers hung like leeches on the body 
politic and sucked its very life-blood. Of one 
loan of 100,000,000 livres only 25,000,000 
reached the public treasury, the complacent Ca- 
lonne paying three-fourths of the whole amount 
to the courtiers. Such a drain upon the re- 
sources of a nation exhausted its strength, and 
the prudent statesmen of the realm appealed to 
the court to abate its extravagance, but luxury 
long continued cannot suddenly practice econ- 
omy. 

To make matters worse, not only had the no- 
bility fallen to the lowest stage of demoralization, 
5 65 



ROBESPIERRE 

but the clergy had kept pace with them in general 
depravity. The excesses openly indulged in by 
many of the members of the upper hierarchy 
brought the whole order into disrepute and in 
consequence the Church no longer exerted a moral 
influence. Philosophy led the way to revolu- 
tion; religion, had it been undefiled, might have 
restrained its violence. 

The political sky was full of portents, the 
clouds were scudding before the wind, and there 
was every indication of a coming storm. " We 
approach a condition of crises and an age of revo- 
lutions " had been the warning cry of Rousseau, 
but his prophecy was not heeded by the silly and 
thoughtless sycophants that surrounded the 
throne and the hour was now close at hand for 
its fulfillment. 

It is a scriptural admonition that those who 
sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind. There 
can be no harvest without a seed-time, nor a 
convulsion without a cause. 

The question as to the origin of the French 
Revolution has given rise to an almost inter- 
minable discussion. Historians, essayists, states- 
men, politicians have argued the matter from 
every conceivable point of view and in many in- 
stances without coming to any definite conclu- 
sion. " History is the romance of nations more 
abundant in improbabilities," says Sardou, " than 
the most extravagant fairy tale, and the French 
Revolution stands out from the events, which 
from the beginning of time have perplexed the 
mind of man, a still unsolved problem." 
66 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

The general diffusion of knowledge and the 
consequent enlightenment of the people created a 
desire for a freer and better system of govern- 
ment. The philosophers, having attacked the 
political institutions of the country and having 
by their liberal teachings destroyed in a great 
measure the influences of the Church, pointed the 
way to revolution. But the real inducing, pro- 
voking causes were the tyranny and despotism 
of centuries : — the galling yoke of feudalism, 
the corruption and extravagance of royalty, the 
insolence and arrogance of the privileged classes, 
the heavy burdens imposed under an unequal and 
unjust system of taxation, the venality of the 
courts, the inequality before the law, the disor- 
dered state of the finances, the impending bank- 
ruptcy and the failure of the crops with the 
attendant famine. Nor must we forget to men- 
tion in this connection the impetus given to the 
Revolution by the weak and vacillating charac- 
ter, conduct, and policy of Louis XVL 

The heroic struggle for independence made 
by the colonies in America against the mother 
country unquestionably had its influence. The 
spectacle of a people without resources bravely 
battling for freedom against a mighty empire, 
the suffering of ragged, bare-footed heroes 

" Tramping the snow to coral where they trod " 

and keeping a vigil for liberty during a 
dreary and a bitter winter in the cheerless camp 
at Valley Forge, aroused sympathy and enthu- 
siasm among all classes and created a desire in 

^7 



ROBESPIERRE 

the hearts of Frenchmen to effect in their own 
land the estabHshment of Hberal institutions. The 
founding of a repubhc in the new world seemed 
to be the realization of the hopes and the long- 
ings of the philosophers for an Arcadia, and 
France rejoiced almost as much as America in 
the successful issue of the conflict. Many of the 
young nobles had taken an active part in the 
struggle and, having aided in securing liberty for 
America, were impatient to aid in bestowing a 
like blessing on France. 

In enumerating the causes we must include the 
comedies of Beaumarchais ^ and the affair 
known as that of the Diamond Necklace. They 
may be deemed as too light and trivial in charac- 
ter to have created any appreciable influence in 
effecting the Revolution, but they produced no 
inconsiderable impression on the public mind and 
aided in arousing a spirit of revolt. 

Strange as it may appear, Free Masonry ex- 
erted a great influence in disseminating revolu- 
tionary sentiments. 

The order's first lodge in France was founded 
in 1725 by an Englishman, Lord Derwentwater. 
The society, being secret in character, fell under 
the censure and disapprobation of the Church. 
Anathema and excommunication, however, did 
not prevent its rapid growth. It advocated and 
fostered the sentiment of the brotherhood of 
man. It gathered its membership from all classes 
of society. The Duke of Orleans, Egalite, was 
grand master and many of the most prominent 

1 See " Mirabeau and the French Revolution," p. 100. 
68 








:m 




CEKTIFU ATK OF M EM BEKSHIF IN AN ENGLISH LUDL.E OF MASONS 

OF JEAN PAUL MARAT 

From an engraving in the collection of \\'illiam T. Latta, Ksq. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

men in France were members of the society. 
Marat, while living in London, was initiated into 
the order and upon his return to Paris had his 
membership transferred to a French lodge. The 
order taught doctrines that were not only anti- 
clerical, but also anti-monarchical, and did much 
missionary work in the cause of political liberty. 

Of course, it is a difficult task to trace the im- 
mediate producing cause of the Revolution, but 
we can unhesitatingly say that all of the forego- 
ing were the causes which in combination brought 
about the result. H we are to be guided in our 
judgment by the examples of history, there was 
present every symptom that presaged a political 
Revolution. 

People do not revolt from a mere wish to 
effect a change in the form and character of 
government ; revolutions do not occur from mere 
fickleness, but from impatience caused by mis- 
rule and tyranny. The French Revolution was 
not a fortuitous event, it happened not by chance, 
it was not an accident; it was the result of many 
and deep-seated wrongs. " What is the Revo- 
lution," says Michelet, " but the equity, the tardy 
advent of eternal justice." 

To be sure, it came as a surprise, and yet by 
some it had been expected. Many generations 
had been at work laboring to effect it and making 
preparations for its arrival. The seers and the 
philosophers had predicted it, D'Argenson, Vol- 
taire, Rousseau, Lord Chesterfield and Mirabeau 
gave warning of Its coming. Louis XV foretold 
the deluge and Maria Theresa hoped it would not 

69 



ROBESPIERRE 

overwhelm her daughter. " The realm is in a 
sore way," declared the physician of Madame de 
Pompadour; "it will never be cured without a 
great internal commotion; but woe to those who 
have to do with it, into such work the French go 
with no slack hand." Here was a warning, says 
Morley, under the very roof of the royal palace. 

But no one foresaw the terrific force the Revo- 
lution would exert. Who could have foretold, 
even so late as in the reign of Louis XV, that a 
revolution was at hand that would destroy the 
whole fabric of the old monarchy and every fea- 
ture of the ancient regime f In so far as the rul- 
ing classes were concerned, the only reason for the 
calling of the States-General was to relieve thei 
financial situation, to provide against the deficit; 
and if no remedy could be found the deputies 
were to be summarily sent about their business. 
There seemed no danger threatening the stability 
of the empire ; even the most sanguine reformers 
hoped only to make the monarchy constitutional ; 
there was no thought of its destruction. 

Although France had been oppressed for cen- 
turies by a grievous tyranny, there had been a 
slow but nevertheless a perceptible improvement 
from age to age in her social and political con- 
ditions. Her people were more enlightened as 
a class and her peasants, perhaps, were a degree 
less wretched and degraded than those of the 
other continental nations. Rotten and corrupt 
as the State was, yet Arthur Young, a most ob- 
servant traveler, during his sojourn in France 
just on the eve of the Revolution, remarked, 

70 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

that with the exception of England, it was the 
mildest government of any considerable country 
in Europe. 

In every well-constituted state or community, 
revolutions are always going on; it is a sure 
sign of health, motion is life, stagnation is death. 
" God has pronounced his curse," says Goethe, 
" on everything that changeth not." A desire 
for improvement is a proof of civilization. Ori- 
ental history is but the monotonous succession of 
tyrants and the continuance of tyranny. There 
is present no persistent effort nor struggle for 
liberty, there is no appreciation of the force of 
law. The rulers concentrate in themselves all 
power and this by the subject is accepted com- 
placently as a natural and reasonable condition. 
The people have the patience and the docility of 
the ox. They would rather bear the burden of 
slavery than make the effort that is required to 
secure freedom. Such a society is not historical 
but merely vegetative. 

There was a time in France, prior to the Revo- 
lution, when a condition existed closely ap- 
proaching that we have just described; when the 
tyranny of the king made the subject a serf, when 
the monarch, sybaritic in his tastes, indulged in 
the sensuous luxury of the Orient, and at the 
same time exercised his authority as arbitrarily 
as the most absolute potentate that ever ruled in 
the East. 

In time, however, the people, chafing under 
this system, grew restless and asserted their 
power. It was the continued tyranny of the 

71 



ROBESPIERRE 

kings and the ruling classes from refgn to reign 
that provoked the wrath of the people. It was 
the oppression of tyrants that made the liberty 
of man imperative and possible. It was the im- 
patience of suffering that, at last, caused the 
Revolution. If there had been more liberal con- 
cessions to meet conditions during the reigns of 
the Bourbon princes, the Revolution might have 
been effected without the terrific convulsion that 
accompanied it. Indeed, if Louis XVI had been 
a wise and resolute ruler, one who had adopted a 
fair and liberal policy, had known how to make 
concessions, relieve burdens, and effect reforms, 
the " Reign of Terror " might have been avoided. 
It is a grave question, however, whether ulti- 
mately mankind would have received as much 
benefit from a peaceful or moderate revolution as 
from a violent one. 

^S The time had come when the people demanded 
a settlement for the wrongs they had suffered. 
The burdens were so heavy and the tyranny had 
been so long-continued, that it was the accumu- 
lation of the forces in opposition and their re- 
straint and confinement that caused the violence 
of the explosion. Because of their sufferings, 
men had the " semen martyrum " planted in their 
hearts, and were willing to sacrifice their lives in 
defence of their cherished principles. With the 
increase of enlightenment there had developed a 
spirit of resolution and courage. " Men were in 
that frightful condition," says Buckle, " when the 

progress of intellect outstrips the progress of lib- 

72 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

erty, and when a desire is felt not only to remove 
a tyranny but also to avenge an insult." 

The world's advance has been marked by great 
historical epochs that may be designated as trans- 
forming periods: such, for example, as the es- 
pousal in the fourth century of the Christian 
religion by the Emperor Constantine that re- 
sulted in the passing of paganism ; the fall of the 
Western Roman empire when the hardy bar- 
barians from the north overthrew her power and 
changed the civilization of Europe by the intro- 
duction of new customs, conditions, and races; 
the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 
the fifteenth century that dispersed the learned 
men of the East and thus disseminated the litera- 
ture and culture of the ancients throughout the 
western world. The Renaissance in art and the 
Reformation in religion must also be grouped in 
this class. The French Revolution may be 
added to this list, but it differs from the others 
in that it was not an event but a continuing con- 
dition. It had no definite beginning and no 
definite end; it cannot be circumscribed by time 
limitations; with its causes it extended far into 
the past and with its results it still reaches in- 
definitely into the future. Its crimes and ex- 
cesses were but the natural avenging of past 
monstrous wrongs, a reaction against the cruelty 
and tyranny of ages. Morley calls it " the battle 
of freedom against thirteen centuries of despot- 
ism," It was a conflict between the absolutism 
of kings and the sovereignty of the people; an 

73 



ROBESPIERRE 

impassioned effort to secure the equality of man. 
The struggle of the opposing forces was terrific 
and necessarily became confused and chaotic, but 
out of this condition were evolved, in time, the 
blessings of justice and liberty. Burk says it 
is " the reciprocal struggle of discordant powers 
that draws forth the harmony of the universe." 
" Out of this chaos of shadow and this stormy 
flight of clouds," cries Victor Hugo, " shone im- 
mense rays of light parallel to the eternal laws." 

Although in the name of the principles of Lib- 
erty, Equality, and Fraternity the most atrocious 
crimes were committed, we must not confound 
these excesses with the true spirit and aims of 
the Revolution. The principles for which the 
French contended in 1789 were the same as those 
for which our fathers fought in 1776. It is this 
sentiment alone that invokes our sympathy in be- 
half of this great struggle. To be fair we must, 
therefore, as we have elsewhere observed, judge 
it not only by its violence and outrages, but also 
by its results. Compare, if you will, the polit- 
ical conditions of Europe prior to the Revolution 
with those subsequent thereto, and then answer 
the questions as to whether or not it was a neces- 
sity and whether or not it accomplished any 
good. 

" That the French Revolution," says Morley, 
" led to an immense augmentation of happiness, 
both for the French and for mankind, cannot be 
denied." " It swept away," says De Tocqueville, 
" the feudal institutions and replaced them with 
a social and political order more uniform and 

74 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

simple, and based upon the principles of the 
equality of all before the law." Its influence 
was felt not only in France, but throughout the 
world ; and from it may be dated the freedom in 
thought and government of modern times. 
" When the Convention declared : * The liberty of 
one citizen ends where the liberty of another citi- 
zen begins,' it summed up in a simple axiom the 
whole law of human society." 



75 



CHAPTER V 

THE NOBILITY SUFFERING OF THE PEOPLE 

THE REVEILLON INCIDENT NECKER URGES 

CALLING OF STATES-GENERAL KING CALLS 

STATES-GENERAL THE NOTABl^ES ELEC- 
TION OF DEPUTIES ROBESPIERRE CHOSEN 

DEPUTY FROM ARRAS, 

As has already been said, under Louis XV and 
Louis XVI things had been going from bad to 
worse. The whole nation was in a state of ex- 
citement and all joined in denouncing the abuses, 
the profligacy, and the extravagance of the court. 
The country was bankrupt. Every conceivable 
method of taxation to increase the revenues and 
to provide against a deficiency had been tried, but 
without avail. 

Ministers endeavored to find a mistake in the 
columns of the accounts, but all kinds of twist- 
ing could not conceal the fact that the annual 
deficit was increasing. Statement after state- 
ment was issued to appease the anxiety of the 
public, but no amount of arithmetical calculation 
could hide the truth. A witty counselor, pun- 
ning on the word " etats " — statements — said : 
" Ce ne sont pas des etats, mais des etats gen- 
eraux qu 'il nous faut " — " It is not statements 

but States-General that we need." 

76 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

It would seem reasonable to suppose that the 
nobility, in the face of the existing conditions, 
would have been willing to make concessions; 
that they would have been wise, patriotic, and 
sympathetic enough even to sacrifice some of 
their privileges ; but the moment they were called 
upon to abate, relinquish, or destroy some of 
the prevailing abuses, abuses which, like a cancer, 
had for generations been eating into the vitals 
of the nation, they resented the interference. 
They were mainly responsible for the evils and 
it was their duty to aid in suppressing them, but 
they had abandoned themselves so absolutely to 
pleasure that they had lost all sense of public 
responsibility. So long had they continued in 
this course without restraint that time seemed to 
have sanctioned their right of indulgence, and 
any interference with it by the public was deemed 
by them unreasonable and without warrant. 

Their greed had so multiplied the burdens of 
the people that the day of reckoning was rapidly 
approaching, but with a blindness born of ob- 
stinacy and selfishness- they could not, or would 
not, read the signs of coming doom. Although 
the tempest was about to break, they would not 
have their peace of mind disturbed, nor their 
amusements interrupted. The gay and rollick- 
ing courtiers, wallowing in pleasure, squander- 
ing the public revenues, drawing extravagantly 
against the civil list, heeding no advice, insolently 
ignoring public opinion, turned a deaf ear to all 
prognostications. 

The winter of '88 and- '89 was one of unusual 
n 



ROBESPIERRE 

severity in France, the coldest season since 1709, 
and it produced great suffering throughout the 
kingdom. This added to the general distress 
and strengthened the demands for immediate re- 
lief. In Paris the mob began to grow ugly in 
temper. Vast multitudes of the unemployed, 
pinched by cold and hunger, marched through 
the streets of the city clamoring for bread, 

Reveillon,^ a prominent manufacturer of wall 
paper, whose factory was located in the faubourg 
Saint Antoine, was reported to have said that a 
working man and his family could live on fifteen 
sous a day; and in consequence of this alleged 
contemptuous remark his factory was destroyed, 
and his house sacked by an angry mob. This 
event is described by many wi iters as the curtain- 
raiser in the great drama of the Revolution. 

Necker, for some time back, had been using 
his influence to induce the king to call a meeting 
of the States-General. " Appointed minister in 
order to find money for the court, Necker made 
use of the wants of the court to procure liberties 
for the people." At last the king consented to 
call together the representatives of the three es- 
tates: the First Estate comprising the nobles, 
the Second Estate including the clergy, and the 
Third Estate embracing the people. 

When that decision was made known, the en- 
tire country seemed to feel the thrill of a new 
life, and the inspiration of a fresh hope. 
^iThe Third Estate possessed but a third part 
of the land, but it had given far more than its 

1 See " Danton and the French Revolution," p. 54. 
78 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

fair share to support the splendor of the court 
and the glory of the nation. It had paid rents 
and rendered feudal services to the lords of the 
manor, had paid tithes to the clergy, and taxes 
to the king; but it had enjoyed no political 
rights, had been admitted to no public employ- 
ment. Now, however, the people, the so-called 
common people, who for centuries had borne the 
burdens without being allotted any share in the 
administration of the government, were at last 
to be advised with as to the adoption of remedies 
to provide relief. 

There had been a meeting of the Notables in 
February, 1787, and again in November, 1788, 
and although the sessions had not been product- 
ive of any appreciable beneficial results, the in- 
vestigations and deliberations had revealed to the 
country at large a sad state of affairs. 

Mirabeau, at the time of the calling of this 
aristocratic body, wrote to Talleyrand that it 
was the happiest day of his life, for he thought 
the meeting would certainly result in the sum- 
moning of the States-General. 

The first French monarch who convoked this 
representative congress was Philip le Bel, in 
1303. It will thus be seen that it was a time- 
honored institution, so far as its age was con- 
cerned, but it had been studiously neglected for 
a long period of years. There had been no meet- 
ing since 1614, in the reign of Louis XIII, and 
that convention had been memorable in that it 
marked the first appearance in the political arena 
of a youngs priest nam ed R ichelieu, who had 



ROBESPIERRE 

been chosen by the clergy to present their me- 
morial. When, in the course of the proceedings, 
a deputy of the Third Estate spoke of the nation 
as one family, in which the nobles were the 
elder brothers, and the commons the younger, 
he was rebuked for his impertinence. " It is a 
great insolence to try to establish any sort of/ 
equality betwen us and them," said the president 
of the nobles. " They are to us as a valet to\ 
his master." One hundred and seventy-fivei 
years had gone by since that demeaning remark] 
had been so quietly accepted by the commons/ 
and conditions had changed. 

The elections aroused the greatest enthusiasm 
throughout the country. Every province was 
thrown into a swirl of excitement. All the 
features of a spirited campaign were brought into 
play — bonfires, banners, processions, public 
meetings, political orations, everything that could 
produce an effect. 

There were 1,275 deputies to be chosen 
throughout the kingdom, and of this number the 
people were entitled to one-half, making the rep- 
resentation of the commons equal to that of the 
nobility and the clergy combined. 

Every taxpayer was entitled to a vote, and this 
provision placed the ballot in the hands of five 
million men, who, up to this time, had been 
politically dead. It was like touching a corpse 
and bringing it to life. The nobles, through 
their agents, resorted to every electioneering de- 
vice to induce the people to support their candi-) 
dates, but it was of no use ; it was an opportunity 
80 / 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

the commons did not intend to lose, and the 
flattery and cajolery of the nobility could not 
efface the recollection of their former pride and 
arrogance. Even the humble cure took a sly 
thrust at the luxurious bishop. It was the sea- 
son for the settling of old scores. 

Fraudulent personation, repeating, ballot-box 
stuffing, and false counting were practiced as in 
a modern political election. Indeed, Mirabeau, 
who stood as a candidate in both Marseilles and 
Aix, decided to accept his credentials from the 
smaller and less important town for fear a con- 
test, which was threatened by his rivals and 
'enemies in Marseilles, might reveal a condition 
of irregularities that would jeopardize his 
chances all around. 

The little town of Arras, in the province of 
Artois, had, in the opinion of its electors, no 
citizen who seemed so fully equipped to meet the 
demands of the hour as Robespierre. It was 
contended by his supporters that he was learned 
in the law, familiar with the writings of the philo- 
sophers, devoted to the interests of the peo- 
ple, and outspoken in his denunciation of the 
abuses in both Church and State. A paper he 
had written on Lettres de Cachet had given him 
quite a reputation in his district as a political 
author. He published besides two electoral 
pamphlets and drew up the cahier of the cobblers 
of Arras. His election was secured after a 
spirited contest, and he was returned to the 
States-General as fifth deputy for the Third Es- 
tate of the province of Artois. 
6 8i 



ROBESPIERRE 

There was no province in the whole kingdom 
where feudahsm flourished more vigorously 
than in Artois, and consequently no locality that 
i formed more fervent partisans of liberty. To 
Tthe nobles or the Church in this particular dis- 
V trict belonged nearly all the land, and the peas- 
ants were made to feel the full rigor of a vicious 
\system that was enforced by exacting masters. 
When Robespierre announced himself as a 
candidate of the Third Estate, he was stigma- 
tized by the clericals as an ingrate and a rene- 
gade, and when he took his seat as a deputy in 
the States-General " he still found Arras," says 
Michelet, " on the benches of the Assembly; that* 
is to say, the lasting hatred of the prelates to- 
wards their protege, and the contempt of the 
lords of Artois for an advocate brought up by 
charity, and now sitting by their side." 

When it was proposed to arm the common 
people with the right of suffrage, the narrow 
and intolerant Bourbon of course stood aghast 
at the very thought of such a thing, for he be- 
lieved they were not sufficiently educated to ex- 
ercise the right intelligently, and consequently 
would do the State much damage. In reality, 
the most remarkable feature of the enfranchise- 
ment was the discrimination shown by the com- 
mons in the selection of their representatives. 
Not only did they send able men to the States- 
General, but men who were loyal and devoted 
to the popular cause. The reforms effected by 
the deputies of the Third Estate in the early ses- 
sions of the National Assembly proved not only 
82 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

their fidelity to their constituents, but also their 
ability as reformers and statesmen. A greater 
work in relieving an oppressed people of their 
burdens was never done in the same space of 
time by any legislative body in the history of the 
world. 



> 



83 



CHAPTER VI 

MEETING OF THE STATES-GENERAL ROBES- 
PIERRE AND MIRABEAU ROBESPIERRE REPLIES 

TO THE BISHOP DELEGATES OF THE THIRD 

ESTATE DECLARE THEMSELVES THE NATIONAL 

ASSEMBLY SIEVES OATH OF THE TENNIS 

COURT MOUNIER ROYAL SITTING MIRA- 
BEAU DEFIES THE ORDER OF THE KING. 

On the 4th of May, 1789, the delegates to the 
States-General marched in procession through the 
streets of Versailles from the Church of Notre 
Dame to the Church of Saint Louis. It was Sun- 
day and all Paris came to witness the ceremony. 
Gorgeous, indeed, was the scene. No expense 
was spared in making it an occasion ever to be 
remembered for its pomp and splendor. The lit- 
tle town, the favorite seat of royalty, had never 
presented so brilliant an appearance. Te Deums 
were sung, and the air, burdened with incense 
and the perfume of flowers, quivered and rever- 
berated with cheers and plaudits for the king. 

In all that vast concourse of people, there was 
no person, perhaps, who attracted less attention 
than the little deputy from Arras. Slight in 
figure, unprepossessing in appearance, wearing 
green spectacles, and clad in the plain and sombre 
garb of the commons, he was not the individual 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

upon such an occasion and surrounded by so 
many well-known and distinguished men to at- 
tract special notice. It may be said, however, 
that no one among all his colleagues felt to a 
higher degree the importance of his mission or 
had a greater desire to render a faithful steward- 
ship. 

,Who is that haughty man stepping along with 
the stride of a king, with head high in air and 
thrown back as if in contempt, a sneer upon 
his ugly rugged face, his bushy hair waving in 
the wind like the tawny mane of a lion, at whom 
every finger is pointed, greeted at times with 
faint cheers and then assailed with low growls? 
That is Mirabeau, le Comte de Mirabeau, deputy 
of the Third Estate from the town of Aix, known 
throughout the kingdom and even elsewhere for 
his extravagance, profligacy, and genius. En- 
titled by birth and rank to walk with the nobles, 
but driven from their midst, he has thrown his 
lot in with the commoners, and a. tower of 
strength he will be to their cause. Great is his 
reputation, but the real power of the giant is not 
yet known. 

These were two distinct types among the depu- 
ties of the Third Estate, and between them ranged 
men of every degree : lawyers, doctors, merchants, 
land-owners, farmers, priests, magistrates, 
mayors of towns, and a few who had no voca- 
tions but were classed as gentlemen. These were 
the representatives of the people, the great ma- 
jority of them undistinguished, even unknown; 
only a few had reputations beyond the limits of 

85 



ROBESPIERRE 

their respective districts. Little did they, at this 
time, comprehend their power, and httle did they 
foresee that they were to assail the abuses of the 
ancient regime and that under their blows the 
old established system was to crumble to pieces 
and that on this mass of rubbish they were to 
lay the foundations of a new constitution. 

On the 5th of May the first session of the 
States-General was held. The king read his 
speech, and at its conclusion put on his hat; the 
nobility in accordance with a time-honored cus- 
tom also covered their heads. And then the 
Third Estate, in defiance of a rule of royal 
etiquette that had obtained from time immemo- 
rial, followed suit. It was a law as old as the 
empire itself that the subject must stand uncov- 
ered in the presence of his king and the breach 
of this law was deemed insolent and rebellious. 
The indignation of the nobles waxed hot at this 
effrontery on the part of the commons, and the 
cry rang through the hall " Hats off." To re- 
lieve the situation, Louis uncovered and the Con- 
vention resumed order. 

The nobles and the clergy then refused to meet 
with the Third Estate in joint session. This ob- 
stinacy was defeating the real purpose of the call- 
ing of the States-General. Instead of the 
whole nation advising together in one body, the 
privileged classes insisted upon holding two sepa- 
rate and distinct conventions or what they might 
have designated as an upper and a lower house. 
Although the clergy met in a hall by themselves, 

86 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

it was believed they would vote as a body upon 
all important questions with the nobility. 

The nobles contended that each order should 
be entitled to one vote, whereas the commons in- 
sisted upon voting by poll. This quarrel kept 
everything at a standstill for five weeks. 

It had been the ancient custom of the body to 
vote upon all questions by orders, and believing 
that this custom would prevail in the new con- 
gress the king and his advisers had been induced 
to allow the Third Estate to send to Versailles 
more representatives than the nobility and the 
clergy combined; but now the commons, appre- 
ciating the fact that they would be out-voted if 
the old custom obtained, demanded that the three 
orders should meet together and that the voting 
should be by individuals. 

The nobles were not all of one mind on this 
question of separate sessions, for some of the 
most distinguished men in their ranks favored 
the union of the three orders. 

Many of the clergy, too, endorsed the stand 
taken by the commons, and impatiently awaited 
the time when they could act in accordance with 
their views and openly declare their preference. 

As a rule the bishops were closely affiliated 
with the nobility, many of them being of noble 
birth; these patrician prelates carried their no- 
tions of exclusiveness and social superiority into 
their religious life and, of course, looked with an 
indifference that was akin to contempt upon the 
humble members of the lower clergy. These, in 

87 



ROBESPIERRE 

turn, had but little respect for their haughty 
superiors and were at heart in close and sympa- 
thetic touch with their brothers of the Third Es- 
tate. 

In the latter part of May, Mirabeau, after a 
great speech, moved the appointment of a com- 
mittee to visit the clergy and appeal to them, in 
the name of God, to throw aside prejudice and 
to meet in common with the Third Estate to 
consider the interests and the welfare of France. 
When the committee appealed to the clergy, it 
was as much as the bishops could do to prevent 
a stampede from their ranks, and to avoid it they 
forced an adjournment. 

A month had gone by since the first meeting 
of the States-General, and the orders were no 
closer together than they had been at the start. 
At this time, a bishop, clad in his purple, entered 
the hall of the Third Estate and after eloquently 
and pathetically commenting upon the miseries 
of the poor, proposed that the commons, as a 
separate order, should unite with the clergy to 
provide succor for the starving. The purposed 
of this appeal was very evident ; it was simply 
an effort under a cry of distress to induce the 
commons to recede from their position by hold- 
ing a joint session with the clergy. It was a/, 
political trick played under the cloak of charityT^. 
For a few moments the hall was silent; no one 
ventured a reply, for it would not have been 
prudent to ignore an appeal that had for its os- 
tensible purpose the relief of the suffering. Just 
then, at the point where the deputies were wav- i 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

ering between policy and principle, a young man 
rose in his place and was recognized as the mem- 
ber from Arras. " Go and tell your colleagues," 
he said, addressing the bishop, " that we cannot 
be persuaded to abandon the position we have 
taken ; that if they so desire they can throw aside 
their flimsy excuses, dismiss their prejudices, and 
unite with us in conference, and then together we 
can consider and provide for the miseries of the 
poor. We must refer them to the principles of 
the primitive Church. The ancient canons au- 
thorized them to sell even the sacred vessels for 
the relief of the destitute ; but happily that sacri- 
fice is not required. It is necessary only that the 
bishops should renounce their luxury, dismiss 
their carriages, their horses and the insolent lack- 
eys who attend them; to sell if need be a fourth 
of the ecclesiastical property." This was a well- 
conceived and well-timed speech, and the bishop 
retired without further ado. 

M. Dumont, who relates this incident in his 
" Recollections of Mirabeau," says that the speech 
was received with approbation and many of the 
delegates asked: "Who is the speaker?" for, 
at this time, he was not well known, but the name 
of Robespierre at once passed from mouth to 
mouth. 

All sorts of compromises were submitted and 
considered, but the dead-lock continued. At last 
on June 17, 1789, the Third Estate, tired of wait- 
ing, cut the Gordian knot by declaring itself the 
National Assembly, thus assuming the functions 
of sovereign power, as did the Long Parliament 
89 



ROBESPIERRE 

in the reign of Charles I when it disregarded 
both the throne and the nobiHty. Louis Blanc 
declares that, after this bold coup, " Royalty was 
no longer in the palace of Louis XVI ; it was in 
the Salle des Etats." It is said, too, that this 
plan received the cordial approval of Jefferson 
who, at that time, was in France and whose 
political acumen was recognized abroad as well 
as at home. 

The Abbe Sieyes, upon whose motion this 
question was carried, was a shrewd-faced man 
of crafty mien, who, even in the garb of the 
commons, could not altogether conceal his clerical 
appearance. More philosopher than priest, too 
liberal in his views for the Church, the clergy re- 
fused to send him as a delegate to the Conven- 
tion; but so well known were his opinions on 
public questions that he was enthusiastically 
chosen by the Third Estate. With the fine, sub- 
tle intellect of the metaphysician, he was withal 
a keen, practical politician and served the popu- 
lar cause conspicuously during the early period 
of the Revolution. Long before the " Reign of ; 
Terror," he withdrew from the public eye and) 
took shelter in obscurity. Therein he showed his; 
wisdom, for had he remained upon the scene and 
taken an active part he would assuredly have^^ 
gone to the scaffold. He became one of the Con-') 
sulate with Napoleon. "^ 

Robespierre bitterly opposed him and his fac- 
tion and sneeringly called him a mole; he re- 
turned the compliment by designating Robes- 
pierre as a tiger. 

90 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

The adoption of Sieyes' motion, that the depu- 
ties of the Third Estate should constitute the Na- 
tional Assembly, was one of the most heroic and 
one of the most important historical events of 
that period. His speech in support of his views 
on the question was a clear and masterly argu- 
ment, and was persuasive and convincing even 
against the impassioned eloquence of Mirabeau. 
He summed up the whole matter in a nut-shell 
when he asserted that the Third Estate was the 
French nation minus the clergy and the nobles. 

' Upon the organization of the National As- 
sembly, the nobles and the clericals were invited 
to join with the commons, and they were given to 
understand that if they did not accept the invita- 
tion the Assembly would proceed to the consid- 
eration of public affairs without them. 

On the 20th of June, 1789, the deputies of the 
Assembly took what is known as the oath of the 
Tennis Court, by which they solemnly swore 
" never to separate and to assemble whenever 
circumstances shall require till the constitu- 
tion of the kingdom be established and founded 
on a solid basis," 

These two events, the organization of the Na- 
tional Assembly, and the vow taken never to 
separate until the adoption of the Constitution, 
effected the legislative revolution. " """" 

Jean Joseph Mounier, upon whose motion the 
pledge had been taken, was a deputy from Gre- 
noble who brought to Paris a reputation as one 
of the ablest lawyers in the kingdom. As a 
student of the fundamental principles and sys- 

91 



ROBESPIERRE 

tems of government, familiar especially with the 
features of the English constitution, much was 
expected from him in the way of suggesting re- 
forms and effecting those changes so essentially 
important at that time, but he failed to meet the 
expectations of his admirers. Wanting in those 
qualities of mind that shine and dazzle, and be- 
ing without ambition and qualification for politi- 
cal leadership, he failed to attract the attention 
and to reach the commanding position his real 
merit deserved. Barnave, who as a disciple sat 
at his feet in Grenoble, rose head and shoulders 
above his master in the capital. The Revolu- 
tion in its early stages was bent on destruction, 
the time for building up did not come until later, 
and Mounier appeared on the scene in advance 
of the period when his learning and talents would 
have been useful and pre-eminent. Stronger 
men for the work at hand pushed him aside and 
gradually his light paled in the glare of the fierce 
fires of the Revolution and he quietly withdrew 
from the conflict. 

A royal sitting on June 22nd, authorized by the 
king, brought the orders no closer together in 
purpose and sentiment. Indeed, because of the 
insolence of the nobility, it resulted only in driv- 
ing them further apart. The king's speech upon 
the occasion was thought to be too energetic in 
character to emanate from his weakness and 
amiability, and it only aroused the indignation of 
the deputies to feel that he had been made the 
mere mouth-piece of his aristocratic advisers. 
There was no tone of moderation in the ad- 

92 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

dress; it was full of commands, and declared 
emphatically in favor of the maintenance of 
feudal rights as an inviolable institution. 

At the conclusion of the sitting the king or- 
dered the Assembly to separate immediately. 
The nobility and part of the clergy, in compli- 
ance with his direction, filed out of the hall at 
once, but a majority of the ecclesiastical mem- 
bers remained with the commons. 

The king's messenger appeared with the royal 
command and ordered the deputies to disperse, 
but Mirabeau told the flunkey to go tell his mas- 
ter that the delegates were assembled by the will 
of the people, and that only force could drive 
them hence. 

. Some of the hot-headed courtiers urged the 
king to resort to the bayonet, but wiser heads 
counseled moderation. It was too late to intim- 
idate with cold steel. Paris already was wild 
with excitement, and the Palais Royal was ring- 
ing with rumors and seething with sedition. 
The Assembly, upon motion of Mirabeau, de- 
clared its members inviolable and decreed the 
punishment of death upon those who should dare 
to lay violent hands upon the representatives of 
the people. 

The Revolution now was surging on with an ir- 
resistible force. The nobility and the hierarchy, 
still clinging to their old Idols, were being swept 
along on the torrent, and every attempt they 
made to check its speed only gave it a fresh im- 
pulse. 

On the 27th of June, the king, receding from 
93 "" 



ROBESPIERRE 

his former position, surrendered to the people 
by directing the orders to unite. 

When the nobility came in a body to the hall 
of the commons, President Bailly in the exuber- 
ance of his joy exclaimed : " This day will be 
illustrious in our annals, for it makes the family 
complete." 

There was public rejoicing over the union of 
the three orders, for it was now believed that the 
work of regeneration would begin in earnest. 
But the period of rejoicing was of short dura- 
tion, for it was soon discovered that Louis, as 
usual, was playing fast and loose. 



94 



CHAPTER VII 

ARREST AND RELEASE OF THE FRENCH GUARDS — 

DISMISSAL OF NECKER FALL OF THE BASTILE 

— MURDER OF DE FLESSELES, DELAUNAY, FOU- 
LON, BERTHIER. 

The military men about the court fumed and 
fretted and threatened, rattled their sabres, swore 
great oaths, and strutted around with a pom- 
pous, belligerent energy that was amusing if not 
alarming. They urged the king to quell the ris- 
ing tumult by striking a blow, but they were reck- 
oning without their host. The insurrectionary 
spirit already possessed the army. Bands of 
drunken soldiers paraded the streets cheering for 
the Third Estate. Some of the French Guards 
had declared that they would not fire upon the 
people, and openly announced their allegiance to 
the Assembly. 

The officers in the army were all royalists, 
while the soldiers of the line were of the common 
people. The gulf between them was wide and 
deep. A private soldier, no matter how great 
might be his merit, could never expect promotion ; 
born of the people he died in the ranks. The 
officers, few in number compared with the sol- 
diers, had a budget that was 2,000,000 francs in 
95 



ROBESPIERRE 

excess of the amount paid to the soldiers of the 
entire army. 

Du Chatelet, colonel of the French Guards, in 
order to make an example of those soldiers who 
evinced a revolutionary spirit, sent eleven of 
them to the Abbaye, and for further punishment, 
decided to remove them to the Bicetre, a prison 
where the vilest criminals were confined, asso- 
ciated in the public mind with every feature of 
cruelty and torture. 

On the day when they were to be transferred, 
a young man mounted a chair in the garden of 
the Palais Royal, and addressing the multitude 
said : " Citizens ! Are we to stand idly by and 
deny aid to the soldiers whose only crime is that 
they refused to fire upon the people? To the 
Abbaye ! " His words rang through the garden 
until air the people took up the refrain and 
shouted in chorus, " To the Abbaye ! " 

The name of the young orator who thus 
aroused the people has not been handed down in 
history, although his appeal was only one degree 
less in importance than the cry of Camille Des- 
moulins that precipitated the capture of the Bas- 
tile. 

< The crowd quickly formed and started for 
the prison. Soldiers offered their services ; but the 
people, thanking them, decided to accomplish the 
task alone. As the procession moved along, its 
numbers increased every step of the way; sturdy 
workmen armed with iron bars joined the crowd, 
and when the gaol was reached the wicket was 
beaten down, the great doors were forced, and the 

96 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

prisoners were set free. As the crowd in tri- 
umph came out of the prison yard, they met a 
body of hussars charging at full gallop with 
swords drawn. The people seized the bridles of 
the horses, and explained to the troopers their 
work of deliverance. The hussars forthwith 
sheathed their swords, removed their helmets, and 
fraternized with the people; wine was brought 
and all drank to the king and the nation, for at 
this period the people believed the king was loyal 
but that he was wrongly influenced and misled 
by his advisers. The crowd conducted the pris- 
oners to the Palais Royal, feasted and toasted 
them amidst song and shout, and when the night 
was far spent lodged them until morning in the 
Theatre des Varietes. 

In these tumultuous scenes of the great and 
rapidly moving drama of the Revolution, Robes- 
pierre appears to have played no conspicuous 
part, but he was closely watching events and 
learning those lessons that were to enable him 
to fill the prominent role he was yet to assume. 
During this period, however, he did all in his 
power to impress the Assembly with his oratory. 
There were few questions considered in the dis- 
cussion of which he did not take part. 

When Versailles heard the news from Paris it 
stood aghast. The king, distracted by conflicting 
advice, at last declared that if the released pris- 
oners were returned to the Abbaye he might 
pardon them. This decision was unsatisfactory 
to the people, so they marched to the Town Hall 

and demanded that the electors should journey 
7 97 



ROBESPIERRE 

to Versailles and intercede with the king to give 
an immediate order for the release of the pris- 
oners. The electors promised to start at once 
on their mission, and declared they would not 
return to Paris without the king's pardon. The 
prisoners were soon at large. 

Under the persuasion of his advisers, Louis at 
last decided to resort to warlike measures and 
troops carefully chosen from the foreign merce- 
naries were posted in commanding positions be- 
tween Versailles and Paris, the bridges seized, 
and arrangements made to beleaguer the capital. 

The king, having no appreciation of the public 
temper, further added to the general discontent 
by summarily dismissing Necker. While the 
minister was entertaining some friends at dinner 
about three o'clock in the afternoon of July nth, 
he received, much to his amazement, the royal 
command for his instant departure. Taking his 
wife aside, he read her the order and, without in- 
forming his guests of the news or even stopping 
long enough to bid them good-bye, he entered a 
carriage with his wife and drove hastily out of 
France, taking the shortest road into the Nether- 
lands. 

, (When the report of the dismissal of Necker, 
who at this time was the most popular man in 
the country, reached Paris, the city was thrown 
into a tumult. It was Sunday and the people 
were abroad in numbers. At first they would 
not believe the news, but messenger after mes- 
senger arrived at the Palais Royal bearing the 
same tidings, and the indignation increased at 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

every confirmation of the report. But, when it 
was announced that a new cabinet had been 
formed with Breteuil, de BrogHe, and Foulon as 
ministers, the public fury knew no bounds. It 
was then that Camille DesmouHns sprang into 
notoriety by calling the people to arms, and his 
impassioned words, leaping from lip to lip, 
echoed in every quarter of the city. 

The night was one of terror and suspense, for 
the citizens believed that Paris would be in the 
possession of the king's troops before the morn- 
ing dawned; barricades were hastily thrown up, 
the tocsin was sounded at intervals, and an oc- 
casional shot was heard. The barriers were in a 
blaze and everywhere resounded the ringing of 
hammers on anvils as rude pikes were beaten into 
shape for the impatient patriots. 

The Bastile fell on July 14, 1789.^ In the 
assault upon this prison there were many prom- 
inent citizens in the attacking party, but there is 
no evidence that Robespierre was present even 
as a spectator. It is almost impossible to im- 
agine him leading a mob or taking an active 
part in work so desperate; although no one re- 
joiced over the result more than he did. He 
recognized the fact that the Revolution had to 
be made by force and he would have had no 
hesitation in instigating a riot, but there is noth- 
ing on record to show that he ever led one. 

There had always been something mysterious 
about this gloomy fortress that stood like a 
menace frowning upon the city, scowling espe- 

^ See " Mirabeau and the French Revolution," p. 270. 
99 



ROBESPIERRE 

dally upon the turbulent and seditious fau- 
bourgs. '' Elle ecrasait la rue Saint Antoine." 

Children did not stop to play near it and at 
night the belated citizen hastened his steps as 
he passed its frowning walls and felt safer when 
he was beyond its shadow. No one thought or 
spoke of it without a curse in his heart. 

It was not a common prison for everyday 
malefactors; one had to be of a certain rank or 
distinction to be incarcerated within its dungeons. 
All sorts of romantic stories were told about its 
inmates, who had been imprisoned for political 
offenses by lettres de cachet and without trial. 
Bastards who claimed the right to succession, 
mistresses who had grown out of favor, authors 
who had expressed themselves too liberally — 
Voltaire himself was confined on this account — 
men and women holding state secrets, had lan- 
guished in its cells. It held the victims of wan- 
ton and capricious tyranny. One inmate who 
had given a useful invention to the navy was 
immured for fear he might make it known else- 
where; as a reward for his patriotic service 
France assigned him a dungeon. The Bastile 
was attacked, not because it was a prison, but 
for the reason that it symbolized the arbitrary 
power of kings. 

There had been a general gaol delivery at the 
time of the coronation of Louis XVI, so there 
were fewer prisoners during his reign and the 
discipline was perhaps less cruel and rigorous 
than it had been in the past; but the people were 
angered by the remembrance of prior wrongs. 

lOO 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

When tHe fortress was taken there were found 
only seven persons confined within its walls. 
One of these who had gone insane during his 
term of imprisonment, could give no account of 
his original commitment and, as there was no 
record kept of it, the history of the man and his 
crime could not be ascertained. Another pris- 
oner, whose beard reached his waist, inquired 
about the health of Louis XV, believing that he 
was still the reigning king. 

In a cell was discovered a letter, written and 
dated thirty-seven years before, which read : 
" If for my consolation Monseigneur would grant 
me for the sake of God and the blessed Trinity 
that I could have news of my dear wife, were it 
only her name on a card to show that she is 
alive, I shall forever bless the greatness of Mon- 
seigneur." This letter evidently was not deliv- 
ered; the wail from the tomb was never an- 
swered, but remained as an echo of a broken 
heart. 

So elated were the people at the liberation of 
the prisoners, that the latter were carried through 
the streets in triumph on the shoulders of stal- 
wart men. Everywhere citizens congratulated 
each other on the taking of the grim old dun- 
geon. Its destruction caused general rejoicing. 
Champfort, while watching its demolition, wit- 
tily remarked that " while it goes on disappear- 
ing it grows more beautiful." When news of 
its fall reached England, Fox exclaimed : " How 
much is this the greatest event that ever hap- 
pened in the world and how much the best ! " 

IQl 



ROBESPIERRE 

The key was sent by La Fayette to Washington 
at Mount Vernon, where it remains as a rehc to 
this day, " a trophy of the spoils of despotism," 

After the storming and capture of the old for- 
tress, the king came to Paris, wore the cockade 
of the Revolution, waved his hat from the win- 
dows of the Hotel de Ville to the crowds in the 
streets below, and was greeted with enthusiastic 
applause. He surrendered to the people, and 
from this moment, says Louis Blanc, his power 
as a feudal sovereign disappeared; he remained 
no longer as a monarch in France, but was sim- 
ply " chef de bourgeois." 

It was at this time that the first exodus of 
the nobles took place. The startling news from 
Paris threw the court into a panic. The broth- 
ers of the king, the Duchess de Polignac, the 
bosom friend of the queen, and a host of royal 
favorites took a hasty departure. The swash- 
bucklers, who had strutted around with a martial 
air when danger was remote, now could not get 
away fast enough. 

All was confusion in the palace; obligations, 
loyalty, affection, were forgotten in the anxiety 
to escape. Trunks were packed, farewells hastily 
spoken, and departures unceremoniously taken. 
The crack of the whips of the postillions, as the 
relays started, could be heard on all sides, while 
clouds of dust over the highways showed the 
speed at which the horses traveled as the nobles 
hurried out of the kingdom. Instead of form- 
ing a rampart around their sovereigns, in the 
sunshine of whose royal favor they so long had 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

basked, they abandoned them at the first sign 
of danger to the fury of a triumphant mob. 
When the tempest broke, having made no prepa- 
ration for safety or shelter, they had to scamper 
for their lives and seek refuge as exiles in foreign 
lands — a just retribution upon as vain, as impu- 
dent and as unpatriotic a crew as ever left a 
scuttled ship. 

The king, to quiet the public clamor, recalled 
Necker, whose re-entry into the capital was an 
ovation. 

The Revolution was enacting scenes that were 
but preludes to the " Reign of Terror." The 
mob had in its anger stricken down De Flesseles, 
who had sent it on a wild and fruitless errand 
when it was in search of arms. Delaunay, com- 
mandant of the Bastile, while under arrest and 
after every guarantee had been given by the lead- 
ers of the mob for his personal safety, was torn 
to pieces. It was his head that was one of the 
first to be carried as a trophy on the end of a 
pike through the streets of Paris ; thus inaugurat- 
ing that cruel, grewsome, and terrifying practice 
that was one of the characteristic features of the 
French Revolution. 

The mob had tasted just enough blood to whet 
its appetite, and, like a wild beast, it growled for 
more victims. 

The Palais Royal, the hot-bed of insurrection, 
had its list of proscribed royalists, and among 
them was none so hated and detested as Foulon. 
The mere mention of his name would instantly 
arouse the anger and the passions of the mob. 
103 



ROBESPIERRE 

Foulon was seventy- four years of age and had 
the views and the qualities of the average noble- 
man or aristocrat of his day and generation; he 
was considered an able financier, and had been 
a member of the de Broglie cabinet. Before his 
installation he had declared, so it was said, that 
if he were minister he would turn the peasants 
out to pasture; his horses and cattle grew fat 
on grass and hay, and why, he asked, should the 
peasant not thrive on such provender? There 
is reason to believe that this was not true, for in 
the severe winter of '88 and '89 he had spent 
large sums of money in aid of the suffering poor ; 
but the report had gone forth, and it required 
more than a mere denial to remove the impres- 
sion from the public mind. It was a matter of 
common knowledge that as an intendant Foulon 
had been harsh and rapacious in his exactions 
and extortions, and by his severe methods had 
accumulated a large fortune. 

After the fall of the Bastile, and especially 
after the hasty departure of the courtiers, he felt 
that his life was in danger, and he had a report 
of his death circulated in every direction; his at- 
tendants even arranged the details of a sham fun- 
eral and with great ceremony buried a dummy. 
All the while Foulon was concealed in his cha- 
teau at Viry, waiting anxiously for an oppor- 
tunity to escape the country. One of his serv- 
ants betrayed him, and on the 22nd of July he 
was seized by the peasants and compelled to go 
afoot to Paris, fastened to the tail-board of a 
cart, with a truss of hay on his back, a crown of 

104 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

thistles on his head, and a chain of nettles around 
his neck. 

When this grotesque procession entered the 
capital, a wild howling mob surrounded the old 
man, and jeered and insulted him in his humilia- 
tion and at times threatened him with instant 
death. He was taken from one place to another 
and at last lodged in the Town Hall. 

Every effort was made by the authorities to 
convey him to prison, but the crowd had so in- 
creased in numbers and had grown so violent in 
its attitude that it was impossible to remove the 
prisoner without putting his life in jeopardy. 

A demand was made by the mob for his im- 
mediate trial. Judges were chosen, and, while 
the proceedings were dragging their slow length 
along, a man well dressed and respectable in 
appearance, but whose name is unknown, arose 
and asked why time should be taken up in pass- 
ing judgment upon one who had been judged 
for thirty years ? This was the signal for action 
on the part of the mob, which, without waiting 
longer, seized Foulon who, half crazed with fear 
and shrieking for mercy, was hurried out of the 
hall, down the staircase, and into the street. La 
Fayette pleaded and begged for delay, but his 
eloquence and popularity went for naught. Ap- 
pealing to that agitated and infuriated crowd was 
like whistling against the blast. 

In front of a grocer's shop, in the neighbor- 
hood of the Place de Greve, was a stout iron 
lantern hung from heavy brackets fastened to 
the wall. From this handy gibbet, the old man 

105 



ROBESPIERRE 

was suspended three times before the rope would 
hold its victim. Piteously he begged for his life, 
kissing the hand of one of his executioners ; but 
the mob was inexorable and, on his knees, he 
was compelled to ask pardon of God and the na- 
tion for his sins. After execution the body was 
torn down and stripped of its clothing; the head 
was cut off and a handful of hay stufifed into the 
mouth; it was then mounted on the point of a 
pike and borne in triumph through the streets of 
the city. Now was heard for the first time the 
wild cry of the rabble : " To the lamp post with 
all the aristocrats." — " Tons les aristocrates a la 
lanterne." 

Berthier de la Sauvigny, the son-in-law of Fou- 
lon, was said to have suggested the cutting of 
the crops before they were ripe to feed the horses 
of the troops and to raise the price of grain. 
This put him in the same class with Foulon and 
marked him for destruction. 

He was apprehended at Compiegne under an 
order of arrest which ostensibly had been issued 
by the Commune of Paris, but which in fact 
the authorities had not signed. 

While the scenes incident to the seizure, trial, 
and execution of Foulon were taking place, Ber- 
thier was on his way to Paris. The authorities 
made every effort to intercept the convoy, and 
release the prisoner, but without success. As he 
entered the city he was met by the mob who 
threw pieces of the musty black bread of the poor 
into his carriage, or put loaves on the point of 
spears and stuck them under his nose. Fou- 

io6 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

Ion's head on a pike was waved before him, and 
although he was informed that it was Delaunay's, 
it is said he recognized the features of his mur- 
dered relative and in his despair cried out : " I 
should believe such outrages as these without ex- 
ample if Jesus Christ had not experienced still 
more cruel insults. He was a God, I am but a 
man." When he reached the Town Hall the 
mob surged around him like a tempestuous sea. 
He was seized as he alighted from his carriage 
and hurried to the same lantern, where, only a 
few hours before, his father-in-law had been 
hanged like a pirate from a yardarm. 

Berthier was younger, stronger, and braver 
than Foulon and, instead of asking for mercy and 
begging for quarter, he fought desperately and 
courageously for his life. He wrenched a gun 
from the hands of a bystander and defended him- 
self most valiantly but, attacked on all sides by 
great numbers, he was soon overpowered and 
dispatched. A soldier cut out his heart and it 
was carried on a pike followed by a wild and 
frenzied mob. 

In the evening it was taken into a cafe in the 
Palais Royal by the savages who had borne it 
aloft, and placed on a table beside them while 
they took some refreshment. All the while the 
crowd outside clamored for the bloody trophy, 
and at last it was thrown from the window into 
the hands of the rabble, who again formed in pro- 
cession to march through the streets in triumph. 

The authorities were powerless; the mob was 
supreme. It was the hour of retribution, the days 
107 



ROBESPIERRE 

of dreadful reckoning- had, at last, arrived, the 
ancient regime was paying a heavy penalty long 
overdue for its insolence, extravagance, and 
tyranny. 

It was not the absolutism of the kings that 
aroused the anger and animosity of the people 
so much as the recollection of the long-continued 
and insufferable insolence of the aristocracy to- 
wards all those who were not in their class, 
and their contemptuous indifference to the miser- 
ies and privations of the poor. Flaunting in the 
face of the public their luxury, extravagance, and 
assumed superiority, they had created so deep 
a hatred in the hearts of the people that the na- 
tion at last arose in its indignation, not only to 
reform abuses, but also to resent an insult. Con- 
trolled by a spirit of vindictiveness, the Revolu- 
tion became sanguinary, relentless, merciless ; and 
yet it may truthfully be said that even the ex- 
cesses in the " Reign of Terror " were only in 
part payment of an old debt and they did not 
exceed in enormity the cruelty and insolence of 
centuries. " Kind-hearted men," exclaims Mich- 
elet, " you who weep over the evils of the Revo- 
lution, shed also a few tears for the evils that 
occasioned it." 



io8 



CHAPTER VIII 

DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN ABOLI- 
TION OF PRIVILEGES FEAST OF THE GUARDS 

MARCH OF THE WOMEN TO VERSAILLES 

RETURN OF THE KING TO PARIS THE JA- 
COBINS ROBESPIERRE GAINS POWER AND IN- 
FLUENCE THROUGH HIS ASSOCIATION WITH 
THE JACOBINS. 

On July 2^, 1789, the committee reported to 
the Assembly the basis of a Constitution. France 
was to remain a monarchy, no longer absolute 
but limited in its authority; the person of the 
king was to be inviolable; the crown was to be 
hereditary; individual liberty was to be sacred; 
property rights were to be conserved; no loans 
were to be made without the national consent; 
taxes were to be equalized, and to continue only 
from one States-General to another. 

After the submission of this report to the Con- 
vention and its favorable acceptance, Mounier 
read the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which, 
among other things, announced that men are born 
equal in respect to their rights; that the people 
are sovereign, and that all power emanates from 
them ; that no man shall be molested on account 
of his opinions — political or religious — pro- 
vided he does not disturb the public peace; that 
109 



ROBESPIERRE 

the citizen shall be secure in his life, liberty, repu- 
tation, and property; and that in the levying of 
taxes he shall be heard through his representa- 
tive. 

When we recall what had been the social, re- 
ligious, and political conditions in France under 
the ancient regime: — that the monarch had been 
absolute in power ; that the divine right of kings 
had been taught as a holy precept ; that feudalism 
had obtained in all its rigor ; that political liberty 
was unknown; that the citizen could be deprived 
of property and even life without due process of 
law ; that taxes were unfairly and unequally dis- 
tributed ; that they were imposed without popular 
representation ; and that religious intolerance was 
of the rankest sort, — we may then have some 
appreciation of the significance of this great 
paper. It is worthy to be classed with the Magna 
Charta of England, the British Petition of Rights, 
and the American Declaration of Independence. 

On the 4th of August the liberal nobles amidst 
the greatest enthusiasm, at a nocturnal session 
of the Assembly, proposed the abolition of feudal 
privileges. It was a scene which Mirabeau de- 
scribed as an orgy, but to Robespierre it ap- 
peared as the dawning of a new era. Emotional 
many of its features may have been, but it was 
nevertheless a great stride forward in the prog- 
ress of the Revolution, and if at this point there 
could have been a halt and the reforms which had 
been suggested and adopted could have been made 
secure, France would have been the freest state 
in Europe and the hopes of the most sanguine 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

reformers would have been more than realized. 
But alas! the Revolution had only started on its 
way; the violence was just beginning. 

Because of the unsettled conditions and the 
many dangers that menaced the future, wealthy 
people were emigrating in droves ; six thousand 
passports were issued in Paris in five days. Do- 
mestics and servants of all kinds were in conse- 
quence thrown out of employment and the great 
army of the needy received vast numbers of re- 
cruits every day. 

While this distress prevailed, an incident oc- 
curred at Versailles that greatly aroused the in- 
dignation of the suffering people. The Body 
Guards tendered a banquet to the officers of the 
Flanders regiment, and upon request the king 
generously gave permission to use the royal thea- 
tre for the purposes of the dinner. 

During the progress of the feast, the king, ac- 
companied by the queen and the dauphin, entered 
the hall, and they, of course, were received by 
the soldiers with the wildest enthusiasm and ac- 
clamation. Heated with wine and aroused by 
the strains of ravishing music, the banqueters 
with oaths and drawn swords pledged their loy- 
alty to the royal family. In the excitement of 
the occasion, the tricolor was trampled under 
foot and the white cockade of the Bourbons was 
worn as the badge of honor. 

News of the feast reached Paris, and the 
Palais Royal grew wild, with anger ; blatant ora- 
tors denounced the affair as an insult to the na- 
tion, and stirred the passion of the people, many 



ROBESPIERRE 

of whom had already been made ferocious by 
hunger. 

On the 5th of October, an army of women 
marched from Paris to Versailles to demand 
bread of the king.^ A horde of furies, terrible 
in aspect, poured through the gates of the city 
out into the open country and streamed to Ver- 
sailles, twelve miles distant. The palace was de- 
spoiled, its halls and corridors were bespattered 
with mud and blood, and, to crown all, the rab- 
ble insisted upon taking the king back with them 
to Paris, His return to the capital was described 
as " The Joyous Entry " of October 6th. 

The mob that destroyed the Bastile was not 
only the riffraff from the slums, but was also 
made up of lawyers, doctors, thrifty shopkeep- 
ers, and working men ; but the rabble that 
marched to Versailles was composed of the law- 
less, the unemployed, and the discontented poor. 
Many of them were actually hungry, for bread 
was getting scarce in Paris and what there was 
of it was dear. 

There seems to be no question that the, march 
of the women to Versailles was taken advantage 
of by a number of conspirators as an opportunity 
to effect, if possible, the assassination of the 
king. Men in the crowd disguised as women were 
doubtless the paid agents of the Duke of Orleans, 
and why they failed to accomplish the object of 
their appointment is hard to tell. The queen's 
life was in danger, and it was saved only by the 

1 See "Mirabeau and the French Revolution," p. 314. 
112 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

courage of two gallant soldiers of the Life 
Guards; but Louis does not seem to have been 
in any special peril, though a carefully and slyly 
aimed shot or thrust could very easily have made 
way with his Majesty. Perhaps the hearts of 
the assassins failed them. 

In a letter written by the Duke of Orleans, 
but not made public until after his death, he di- 
rected his banker not to pay the sum that had 
been agreed upon as the price for the blood of 
the king. " The money is not earned, the mar- 
mot still lives," was the choice language used 
by the duke in referring to his royal cousin. 

In these stirring scenes, it does not appear that 
Robespierre took any active part. Finding that 
he was not making an impression upon the As- 
sembly, and that he was greatly overshadowed 
by men of brilliant talents, he turned to the clubs 
and attended nightly their sessions and took part 
in their discussions and deliberations. 

The clubs acquired a great importance during 
the Revolution. " Agitators under the Constitu- 
ent Assembly, they became," says Thiers, " dom- 
inators under the Legislative." 

The society of the Jacobins was the leading 
organization of its kind in Paris, and, in time, 
had its branches in all the provinces of the king- 
dom, so that a man who made a reputation in the 
parent association was known throughout the na- 
tion. 

Nobles, lawyers, authors, orators, actors, and 
artists were enrolled in its membership. Mira- 
8 113 



/ 



ROBESPIERRE 

beau, Barnave, Duport, the Lameths, David, Ver- 
net, Talma, Chenier, and men of the highest dis- 
tinction attended its sessions. 

It was organized in the early days of the Revo- 
lution, and exerted an influence from the very 
beginning. In May, 1789, while the deputies of 
the Third Estate were in attendance upon the 
States-General in Versailles, some of them 
formed an association called " The Friends of the 
Constitution." When in October the king was 
forced to go to Paris, this society moved to the 
capital and took up its quarters in the deserted 
chapel that had belonged to the convent of the 
Jacobins. It was from this religious order that 
the club took its name; just as the clubs of Dan- 
ton and the Lameths were called, respectively, the 
Cordeliers and the Feuillants, from the fact that 
they occupied the convents of those religious so- 
cieties. These buildings had been abandoned, 
under the decree of the Assembly confiscating 
Church lands, the nuns and monks had been dis- 
persed, and the property was used for secular 
purposes. 

The Club of the Jacobins originally had about 
300 members, but this number increased in time 
to 6,000. In 1792, there were throughout 
France about twelve hundred affiliated societies, 
almost as many as there were towns and villages 
in the kingdom. To be elected it was necessary 
to be proposed by ten members and obtain a 
majority of votes. 

<rhe chapel in which the meetings of the par- 
ent society were held was a great barn-like struc- 
114 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

ture with a peaked roof and a row of attic win- 
dows on each side ; surmounting the building was 
a small cupola or bell tower. There were tall 
gothic windows in the side walls which admitted 
an abundance of light. Over the entrance was 
a board with the words : 

SociETE DES Jacobins 
Unite, Liberte, Egalite, Indivisibilite 

DE LA RePUBLIQUE 

Fraternite ou La Mort 

Above this board hung a red flag and on the 
top of the staff was the bonnet rouge. Inside 
the walls were bare, having been shorn of all 
church ornaments; two large stoves stood in the 
middle of the hall with elbow pipes issuing out 
of the windows. Against the side walls, facing 
each other, were the platform for the chairman 
and the tribune for the orators. The members 
occupied rising seats that were arranged against 
the walls. A gallery was at one end of the build- 
ing for the use of the public. The meetings were 
held every second day and the sessions began at 
eight in the evening and continued until about 
half past ten o'clock. In the mornings there 
were instruction classes at which citizens were 
taught their public duties. 

All questions that were discussed in the As- 
sembly were argued and considered at the meet- 
ings of the Jacobins, and so influential did the 
club become that in time it not only directed, 
but, in a great measure, dictated legislation. It 
was the revolutionary centre of France and vital- 
"5 



ROBESPIERRE 

ized the forces of insurrection throughout the 
kingdom. " There are places," said Chateau- 
briand, " which seem to be the laboratories of 
sedition." 

Here was a field in which Robespierre soon 
exerted a powerful influence. As a man of edu- 
cation, as a lawyer by profession, and as a dele- 
gate to the National Assembly, he secured a hear- 
ing here which he could not at first obtain in the 
Convention. 

Robespierre possessed unquestionably some at- 
tractive qualities. He had always an air of earn- 
estness and sincerity; if he was not sincere then 
he must have been a consummate actor. His 
speech and conduct had always so much the ap- 
pearance of singleness of purpose, that his hon- 
esty was considered beyond question. 

He had the faculty of looking wise, and his 
serious manner tended to give the impression 
to an average audience that he was a thought- 
ful man, so that when he spoke he was listened 
to attentively. His classical and historical allu- 
sions, his constant references to the philosophers, 
his patriotic platitudes and protestations of in- 
tegrity and loyalty that would have evoked the 
jeers of his colleagues in the Assembly, where 
the debates were to the point, short, sharp, and 
decisive, secured for him at the club the reputa- 
tion of being a learned, an honest, and a loyal 
man, and the crowd regarded him with respect. 

" The Convention would have yawned," says 
Morley, " if it had not trembled under him, but 
the Jacobin Club never found him tedious. It 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

is said that for eighteen months there was not a 
single night he did not make to the Jacobins at 
least one speech, and that never a short one." 

It was in the club that he first won the sup- 
port of the radicals, and it was through the 
club that he gained his ascendency over the mob. 
It is hard to say, or even to imagine, what his 
career would have been without the advantages 
he derived from this association. 

There is no question about his popularity, and 
yet, strange to say, he did not possess what are 
called the arts of the practical politician. Re- 
pelling all familiarity, he was anything but cor- 
dial and magnetic in manner; he had not the 
cheery word, the contagious laugh, and the genial 
shake of the hand, which count so much in the 
game of politics. 

He doubtless appeared occasionally in the gar- 
dens of the Palais Royal, the focus of the Revo- 
lution, where were forged its thunderbolts, but 
there is no record of his ever having addressed 
the crowd. In this early period of his career 
he was not sufificiently experienced to speak in so 
tumultuous an assemblage and yet what a school 
for the training of an orator! When Wendell 
Phillips was asked by a young man what hei 
should do to acquire the art of public speaking, 
the answer was, " Take a course of mobs." 



"7 



CHAPTER IX 

FRANCE DIVIDED INTO DEPARTMENTS — PARIS 

MURDER OF FRANQOIS THE THEATRES 

CONFISCATION OF CHURCH PROPERTY — ASSIG- 
NATS. 

From time out of mind, France had been di- 
vided into hostile provinces of unequal fextent, 
and the inhabitants of one district were strangers 
to those of another. They differed in customs, 
habits, manners, laws, and even language, and 
had all the prejudices that usually characterize 
the citizens of contiguous foreign states. To 
cross the lines that separated the districts and the 
bridges that spanned the rivers, required the 
payment of toll, while local custom-houses col- 
lected tariff duties upon goods transported from 
one province to another. To do away with this ) 
system that tended to denationalize France, the) 
Assembly divided the country into eighty-three^ 
separate departments, with equal rights and un- 
der one law, 

Paris, of course, was the centre of the coun- 
try. Not only was it the capital of France, but 
it was the largest and the most important city 
on the continent of Europe. It had a popula- 
tion of about 600,000; and was then, as it is to- 
day, devoted to gayety and fashion. 

118 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

The Paris of 1789, however, was not the beau- 
tiful city it is in our times. The streets were 
mostly narrow and very dirty. There was no 
underground drainage, and when it rained the 
gutters became the channels for rushing torrents, 
over which fops and well-dressed ladies were 
carried by stout porters who charged a few sous 
for their services. There were no sidewalks on 
many of the streets, and it required care, skill, 
and experience for a pedestrian to pick his way 
with safety, for the drivers of the many vehicles 
were utterly regardless of the rights of foot- 
travelers. Heavy, lumbering, gilded coaches of 
the aristocrats, as big as small houses, drawn by 
four or six horses, cabriolets driven rapidly and 
recklessly by young men of fashion, fiacres, carts, 
and sedan chairs — the last as a method of con- 
veyance had not yet gone entirely out of 
fashion — formed an endless procession, an inex- 
tricable maze, and kept winding in and out, gov- 
erned by no rule or law of locomotion or right of 
way and defiant of all police and municipal reg- 
ulations. 

In fair weather the streets were covered with 
a fine dust and in wet weather were transformed 
into ditches of mud. Beggars were on every 
hand; hawkers, both men and women, shrieked 
their wares in a discordant medley, while cut- 
purses on all sides watched for an opportunity 
to take advantage of the unwary. Soldiers, 
strangers, porters, gaily-dressed women mingled 
in the throng. It was a most animated scene, 
full of interest and color. 
119 



ROBESPIERRE 

Bad as was the condition of the streets in day- 
time, it was worse at night ; the lamps or lanterns 
were of a primitive pattern, set far apart, and on 
many highways when there was a moon they 
were not lighted. During the winter and in 
stormy weather, except in the most prominent 
localities or in the neighborhood of the cafes and 
the public gardens, the streets were dismal, 
gloomy, and dangerous and the solitary pedes- 
trian was likely to fall into a ditch or into the 
hands of a highwayman. 

Many of the comforts and the conveniences of 
modern domestic life, which add so much to hap- 
piness, cleanliness, and health, were unknown at 
this period. Even the palaces of the great in 
the winter season were cold and cheerless; many 
of the apartments were without light and air; 
wide fireplaces blazed with logs, but most of the 
heat went up the chimneys, and in damp weather 
the rooms were often filled with smoke. At a 
feast given at Versailles during the reign of Louis 
XIV, it was impossible to heat the large banquet 
hall, and in consequence the wine and the water 
froze in the goblets, while the courtiers shivered 
and their teeth chattered as they exchanged bon 
mots. Sanitary regulations, even in the most 
sumptuous palaces, were neglected, and the odors 
at times were most offensive. If this was the 
case in the houses of the rich, one can imagine 
what must have been the discomfort in the homes 
of the poor. The pomp and magnificence of roy- 
alty submitted to conditions that to-day would 

I20 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

be deemed intolerable in the humblest habita- 
tions. 

The conditions that prevailed in France, how- 
ever, were the same the world over. Paris did 
not in these particulars differ from other leading 
continental cities. The great inventions and im- 
provements of the nineteenth century, that have 
done so much for the betterment of mankind in 
everyday life, had not yet been introduced. 

Paris, as the capital of France, was the centre 
of the Revolution, and as every road led in her 
direction it was easy to find the way. Tramps, 
beggars, outcasts, all poured through the open 
gates, found refuge in the slums, and added not 
only to the agitation but to the common distress. 
Like vultures, drawn by the smell of carrion, 
they came in from every quarter. " All this 
mass floats about the city," says Thiers, " and is 
engulfed therein as in a great sewer — the honest 
poor and the criminal alike ; some beg, all prowl 
about, a prey to hunger and the rumor of thC/ 
streets." 

These crowds of vagrants had for generations 
been wandering along the highways of France, 
much to the annoyance of travelers and country 
folk. Vauban at the close of the seventeenth 
century, in commenting on this matter, said : 
" The highroads and the streets of towns and 
boroughs are full of mendicants, whom hunger 
and nakedness have driven from their homes." 

In 1789, this army of tramps, according to an 

estimate made by Louis Blanc, numbered 2,000,- 
121 



ROBESPIERRE 

ooo in a total population of 25,000,000 of people, 
a most dangerous percentage. These hordes 
were made desperate because of the scarcity of 
food, and many of the cities, following in the 
footsteps of Rome, were compelled to amuse and 
feed them at the public expense. 

Of course, a great multitude of these vagrants 
came to the capital where bread was already 
scarce, and their presence did not in any way in- 
crease the supply of food. Soon Paris surpassed 
all other cities with the possible exception of an- 
cient Rome, in the disproportionate number of its 
wretched and unemployed poor. Howling mobs 
paraded through the streets, terrorizing the citi- 
zens, defying the authorities, and creating trouble 
in every direction. 

The Revolution had already accomplished 
much in the way of reform, really more than it 
accomplished in all its future existence; but it 
was now taking a new turn, and force and terror 
were usurping the functions of legislation. 
" Paris, if given up to itself," said Mirabeau, 
" will in three months probably be a hospital and 
certainly a theatre of horrors." 

Robespierre, however, viewing the situation 
from a different standpoint, saw in the prevail- 
ing conditions the means to effect the social 
and political revolution that France so greatly 
needed. The mobs were but the vanguard of 
that army that was to overthrow and destroy 
the monarchy. 

To relieve the distress, the authorities doled 
out food to the needy. Necker furnished funds 

122 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

from the public treasury for the purchase of 
grain, while Bailly, the good, kind-hearted 
mayor, spent large sums of money out of his 
own fortune to appease the hunger of the poor. 

Frangois, the baker, it was rumored, had, in 
violation of law, cornered a quantity of flour. 
On October 21, 1789, the crowd gathered before 
his shop and threatened him with violence. It 
was stated that the story was without any foun- 
dation, but no argument can convince the minds 
of hungry men, for starvation knows no logic. 
The shop was sacked and, although there were 
found only a few loaves of bread, the poor bak- 
er's body was torn to pieces and his head carried 
aloft on a pike, followed by a rabble as wild as 
dancing dervishes. The authorities soon scat- 
tered the mob and restored order. 

To provide against the recurrence of such 
disorder and violence, the Assembly enacted a 
new martial law. Robespierre vehemently op- 
posed its passage on the ground that it evinced 
a distrust of the people. The stand he took upon 
this question and the clear enunciation of his 
democratic principles won for him the wild ap- 
plause of the galleries. 

The Assembly had moved to Paris after the 
king took up his abode in the palace of the Tuile- 
ries and continued its labors on the Constitution. 

Royalty having come to the capital, society in 
a short time, after recovering from its fright 
caused by the riots, became as gay as ever. 

The theatres, always favorite places of amuse- 
ment with the Parisians, were, says Imbert de 
123 



ROBESPIERRE 

Saint-Amand, the tilting grounds for the fac- 
tions and parties. The actors, themselves, were 
partisans, and frequently they would twist their 
lines so as to apply the sentiments expressed in 
the plays to current matters and thus call forth 
the cheers of the pit or the jeers of the boxes, 
as the case might be. If the royalists were pres- 
ent in force, they would insist upon the orches- 
tra's playing their favorite airs : " Charmante 
Gahrielle," " Vive Henri Quatre! " and " 0, 
Richard! O, mon roi!" while the revolutionists 
would attempt to drown the music by vocifer- 
ously singing the wild strains of the " Qa ira." 
Sometimes the performance would be interrupted 
by a hand-to-hand fight, swords would be drawn, 
heads cracked and blood shed, and after the 
play, knightly escorts and elegantly dressed ladies 
would be howled at by the mob and occasionally 
rolled into the kennels. 

Even while the Germans were at the gates of 
Paris, the people, says Victor Hugo, went to the 
play as they did at Athens during the Pelopon- 
nesian War. 

Although many of the nobles had fled, there 
were enough left behind to make the levees inter- 
esting and even brilliant. Madame de Stael says 
than during this time Paris was never gayer. 
Society kept open house, and, while the slums 
were seething with discontent and the hungry 
and homeless were wandering through the streets, 
the mansions of the rich nightly blazed with light 
and splendor. Poverty, shivering and starving 

in the shadow of the palace, induced to riot and 
124 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

revolution. It was the luxury and extravagance 
of the aristocracy of the old regime and the in- 
solent, ostentatious display of their wealth that 
created envy and hatred in the hearts of the com- 
mon people; but the lessons of the past were un- 
heeded by the rich and their conduct at this time 
only increased the general discontent. 

The rapacity of the Church had resulted in 
the accumulation of vast wealth, which, when the 
Revolution occurred, was estimated at 2,000,- 
000,000 francs, yielding a revenue of about 75,- 
000,000 francs annually. This was looked upon 
with an envious eye by the State and, at last, 
it was decided to appropriate it bodily. The con- 
fiscation of the Church lands and the issuance of 
assignats which were secured by these lands, 
postponed the threatened bankruptcy and tem- 
porarily relieved the financial situation. Vast is- 
sues of paper money, of course, induced to specu- 
lation and extravagance, drove the precious 
metals out of circulation, and ultimately resulted 
in repudiation; but, for the time being, these 
issues increased the volume of currency, gave 
an impetus to business, and provided employ- 
ment for the poor. 

This confiscation of the ecclesiastical property 
was considered by the Church an act of ruthless 
spoliation, and at once that mighty organization 
became the avowed and sworn enemy of the 
Revolution. 

The men who were chiefly responsible for this 
act of appropriation by the State were Talleyrand 
and Mirabeau. The former, a churchman of 

125 



ROBESPIERRE 

prominence, was solemnly excommunicated by a 
papal decree. The fulminations from the Vat- 
ican, however, were no longer heeded in France 
and, in sheer defiance of the threats from Rome, 
the Assembly proclaimed religious toleration and 
even went so far as to elect for its president Ra- 
baut Saint Etienne, the son of a Protestant cler^ 
gyman. 

Robespierre at this time had not reached the 
prominence in the Assembly he subsequently at- 
tained, but he boldly stood forth and expressed 
his views in favor of the confiscation of Church 
property. 



126 



CHAPTER X 

THE KING VISITS THE ASSEMBLY MARQUIS DE 

FAVRES COUNT d'INISDAL — REORGANIZA- 
TION OF THE CHURCH FESTIVAL OF THE 

FEDERATION — AFFAIR OF NANCY. 

While the Assembly was busily employed in 
constructing the Constitution, its labors were in- 
terrupted on February 4, 1790, by a visit from the 
king, who, to encourage the deputies, declared 
that it was his desire and his intention to give 
his allegiance to that instrument, which was yet 
unfinished. The hall rang with cheers and many 
of the members wept in the joy of their emotions. 
Strange that the king was so anxious to evince 
a spirit of loyalty to that Constitution which he 
subsequently, upon its adoption, refused to obey 
and endeavored to destroy. It is said that he 
made this visit and declaration at the instance of 
Necker and the queen. 

The Marquis de Favras, a restless and reckless 
spirit, was arrested for conspiracy, charged with 
being implicated in a plot to kill La Fayette, 
Necker, and Bailly, to abduct the king, and to 
place his brother Provence on the throne. On 
the 1 8th of February, the marquis was convicted 
and sentenced to death. If he had any co-con- 
spirators he was brave and loyal enough to con- 

127 



ROBESPIERRE 

ceal their identity and he went to execution with 
his lips sealed ; if there was a secret, it died with 
him. It was believed, at the time, that the con- 
spiracy was far-reaching, that many men of 
prominence and distinction were concerned in it, 
and that they breathed easier after the marquis 
lost his head. 

De Favras is said to have been the first noble 
ever executed in France by hanging, and he was 
about the last person to-be formally sentenced to 
suffer death by that method of punishment, for 
shortly afterwards, the guillotine, that bloody ma- 
chine that became the very sign and symbol of 
the Revolution, was introduced and adopted by 
the government. 

The Revolution was running on at a terrific 
pace; its violence and its hostility to the king 
were increasing daily and it was a growing be- 
lief in every quarter that the life of Louis was 
in peril, Marie Antoinette told Madame Cam- 
pan that their only safety was in flight, that no 
one could tell to what length the factions would 
go, and that the dangers increased every moment. 

There were many efforts made, at this time, to 
save the king by carrying him out of the country, 
and it is reasonable to suppose that some of these 
royalistic plots could have succeeded, had Louis 
given the conspirators any encouragement or per- 
sonal assistance; but he seemed afraid to act. 
, In March, 1790, Count d'Inisdal was selected 
by a number of nobles to make arrangements 
for the escape of Louis. He won oyer D'Au- 
mont, Captain of the Guard at the Tuileries, and 
128 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

everything was in readiness to carry off his Maj- 
esty at midnight ; but the king, with his usual ir- 
resolution, would not give his assent to any prop- 
osition. He was very willing to be stolen from 
his palace in the dead of night, or at any other 
time, but he did not want to appear to be a con- 
senting party to the abduction ; he was anxious to 
save his life, but feared the loss of his crown, 
and he believed that a willingness upon his part 
to be abducted would be considered an abdica- 
tion. 

Count DTnisdal submitted the plan of escape 
to Madame Campan, who straightway consulted 
with her father-in-law in relation to the matter. 
He at once sought the king, whom he found play- 
ing a game of whist with Marie Antoinette, his 
brother Provence, and his sister-in-law. When 
Campan had explained the details of the con- 
templated abduction, the king made no reply. 
The queen at last impatiently exclaimed : " Sire ! 
have you nothing to say to Campan ? " Then 
followed another long silence when Louis, again 
prodded by the queen, said : " Tell DTnisdal I 
cannot consent to be carried off." " Remember," 
added Marie Antoinette, addressing Campan, 
" that you convey the right message ; the king 
says he cannot consent to be carried off." 

When the answer was given to DTnisdal he 
was much dissatisfied; he did not think it fair 
that he should bear the entire responsibility of 
the enterprise, for it was not the safest thing in 
the world to kidnap a king. 

Marie Antoinette, still hoping that the plans 
9 129 



ROBESPIERRE 

had not miscarried, made every preparation for 
flight; but, when the steeples rang the hour of 
midnight and the conspirators did not appear, she 
abandoned herself to disappointment and retired 
with a heavy heart. 

The Church already had been despoiled of its 
property and now the Assembly was determined 
to bring that great organization into harmony 
with the new order of things. For this purpose 
a bill was introduced providing for the civil con- 
stitution of the clergy. The Church was to be 
stripped of its dignities and influence and made 
obedient and subservient to the State. Monastic 
vows and religious orders were to be abolished 
and each congregation was to elect its own pas- 
tor, who was to be paid his salary out of the 
national treasury. All prelates and priests were 
to take an oath of allegiance to the Constitution 
and swear to observe the laws. 

Robespierre strongly supported this movement. 
The bill was reported from the committee on the 
29th of May, 1790, and on the following day 
Robespierre addressed the Chamber on the ques- 
tion of its adoption. He contended that the 
priests should be only magistrates appointed to 
take charge of public worship; he favored the 
abolition of the titles and offices of cardinals and 
archbishops, a great reduction in the number of 
priests and the vesting of power in the State to 
name the bishops and cures. In other words, he 
would have made the Church but a department of 
the government, a kind of bureau of morals. 

The expression of his views, and he pressed 
130 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

them with his usual persistency, aroused the 
greatest opposition among the moderates and al- 
though he was supported by a majority of the 
members of the Assembly, the house was thrown 
into such confusion that it was impossible for him 
to proceed. The bill as originally reported from 
the committee was, however, in the main enacted 
into a law. On June 14th, it was decreed that 
the priests before consecration should take in 
public an oath of allegiance to the nation, but it 
was not until August 24th, that the king con- 
firmed the decree that established the civil con- 
stitution of the clergy. 

The attitude of the Assembly towards the 
Church aroused the indignation and fury of the 
clericals and engendered such bitterness as re- 
sulted at last in the dreadful massacres in Avig- 
non, La Vendee, and Brittany during the reign 
of the " White Terror " when religious zeal was 
aroused to strangle the frenzy of the Revolution. 

Meanwhile plans were going forward for a 
great festival, to be celebrated in Paris, in com- 
memoration of the destruction of the Bastile. The 
Festival of the Federation was held on the Field 
of Mars on the 14th of July, 1790. Paris was 
crowded with visitors, for all France welcomed 
the coming of this historic and auspicious day. 
The deputies of the departments were presented 
to the king, who received them with the greatest 
cordiality, and they in turn gave to him every ex- 
pression and testimony of their love and loyalty. 
The leader of the Breton deputation, kneeling 
before the king and presenting his sword, said: 

131 



ROBESPIERRE 

" Sire, I place in your hands the faithful sword 
of the brave Bretons; it shall be reddened only 
by the blood of your foes." The king raised 
the kneeling deputy and embraced him, then re- 
turning the sword said : " It cannot be in better 
hands than in those of my brave Bretons. I have 
never doubted their loyalty and affection ; assure 
them that I am the father, the brother, and the 
friend of all Frenchmen." 

On the day of the celebration the rain fell in 
torrents, but nothing could dampen the ardor and 
enthusiasm of the occasion. Twelve hundred 
trained singers chanted the Te Deum and half a 
million voices sang the rapturous strains of the 
" Qa ira." Talleyrand, Bishop of Autun, to 
whose cold and cynical nature such ceremonies 
seemed ridiculous, blessed the banners. La Fay- 
ette, representing the army, bared his sword, 
placed it on the altar of the country, and took an 
oath to serve faithfully the nation; in response 
100,000 National Guards echoed and re-echoed 
his words. The president of the Assembly and 
the deputies exclaimed, as if in one voice : " We 
swear it." The king solemnly lodged his oath in 
heaven to obey the mandates of the Constitution, 
and the queen, carried away by her emotions, 
held up the dauphin in the face of the multitude 
and together mother and son, amidst the wildest 
demonstrations of joy, consecrated themselves 
unto France. The rain ceased, the sun came out 
in all his glory, and heaven seemed to send down 
its benediction. 

132 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

At night the city was illuminated and a ball 
took place on the very spot where a year before 
the Bastile had stood. " They danced with joy 
and security on the ground that had been watered 
with tears, where courage, genius, and innocence 
had groaned, and where the cries of despair had 
been uttered in death." 

The Festival, alas ! was but a halt in the march 
of the Revolution; its aspirations for universal 
peace and the brotherhood of man were but hopes 
as evanescent as dreams. Emotional as it was, 
it must, however, be taken as the heartfelt ex- 
pression of the real purpose of the Revolution. 
To Robespierre and the men of his class who 
longed for ideals, it was an event that marked 
the world's advance — a step towards that Uto- 
pian existence that was the dream of Rousseau. 

Many of the features of the ceremony, when 
viewed coldly, were silly and purely sensational 
and, of course, were subjected to the ridicule and 
the sarcasm of witty journalists, many of whom 
went far beyond the limits of propriety. 

Camille Desmoulins, whose pen was as sharp 
as the sting of an adder, gave full play to his 
fancy and revolutionary sentiments. He alluded 
to the king as the Elder Capet and declared that 
the throne occupied by him on the Field of Mars 
should have been empty if it was the real purpose 
to represent the sovereignty of the nation. He 
called the ancient triumph of ^milius Paulus a 
national festival because a king with his hands 
tied behind his back followed in humiliation the 
133 



ROBESPIERRE 

triumphal car of the Roman conqueror, and in- 
timated that it would be in place to chain Louis 
to the chariot wheels of the republic. 

This was getting very close to what might be 
classed as treasonable declarations, but Marat 
went even further than Camille. He fumed and 
railed and derided those who had charge of the 
fete for having provided a throne for the king 
at the foot of which he received the homage of 
a subservient people, while in the shadow of this 
throne the president of the Assembly, the real rep- 
resentative of the sovereignty of the nation, oc- 
cupied a mean and humble seat. This glaring 
contrast, he said, was an insult to a free and 
an enfranchised people. 

Such language, had it been uttered in the days 
of the old regime, would have been smothered in 
the dark recesses of a dungeon ; a lettre de cachet, 
without the tedious forms of a trial, would sum- 
marily have put an end to utterances so treason- 
able; but the Revolution had changed these con- 
ditions. 

An effort was made in the Assembly to decree 
the prosecution of these arch disturbers of the 
public peace ; but, although a law was passed au- 
thorizing the prosecution, it was nullified by the 
passage of a subsequent act that provided there 
should be no prosecution for anything published 
prior to the date of this last enactment. 

This was temporizing with treason and was 
simply an inducement to the repetition of the of- 
fence. 

The influence of the Festival was rapidly wan- 
134 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

ing; soon the whole State was again rocking in 
the throes of revolution, the provinces were in re- 
volt, the Jacquerie were at work, and the mid- 
night skies reflected the flames of the many 
wrecked and burning chateaux. 

In every branch of the army there had devel- 
oped a spirit of insubordination. The radical 
clubs had established a propaganda that was 
covertly circulating the literature of the Revolu- 
tion in every camp and thus instilling into the 
minds of the soldiers the principles of the new 
order. 

The Revolution had opened to the common 
soldiers the avenues of promotion ; merit, instead 
of birth and influence, was the way to advance- 
ment. The superior officers heretofore had all 
been royalists. Many of them had resigned their 
commands, and those who remained, even 
though they took the civic oath, were mistrusted 
and disliked by the troops. Moreover, increas- 
ing the discontent, the patrician officers looked 
with contempt upon the plebeian upstarts who 
had secured promotion. 

To gain favor with the troops, the Assembly 
had increased their pay. It was now a desperate 
struggle between the Convention and the sup- 
porters of the monarchy to secure the confidence 
of the army. 

An unfortunate incident which occurred at this 
time resulted in retarding momentarily the prog- 
ress of the Revolution and created a strong 
reaction in favor of law and order. 

A regiment of Swiss soldiers stationed at 
135" 



ROBESPIERRE 

Nancy demanded from their officers the payment 
of money which they claimed was in arrears. 
Their demands not being compHed with, they ex- 
hibited signs of sedition. A hot-headed, reckless 
officer named Malseigne was sent by the As- 
sembly to negotiate a settlement in the matter, 
but he acted in so arbitrary a manner that he ex- 
asperated the soldiers and they threw him into 
the guardhouse. Here was mutiny in its most 
flagrant form. 

General Bouille, a cousin of La Fayette and an 
uncompromising royalist, was a martinet of the 
most pronounced type and a soldier of the old 
school ; he was about the last man in the army to 
brook, for a moment, insubordination in the 
ranks. To him was assigned the duty of bring- 
ing the insurgents to subjection and he set about 
his task with coolness and military precision. He 
marched with superior forces against the Swiss, 
and when the conflict was over the few remaining 
mutineers were hanged, broken on the wheel, or 
sent to the galleys. 

The royalists were elated over the result ; they 
looked upon it as the first step towards crushing 
out the Revolution by force. Bouille, on motion 
of Mirabeau, was honored by the Assembly with 
a vote of thanks. 

Robespierre at the Jacobins' was outspoken in 
his denunciation of the affair, while Marat 
shrieked in despair and called upon the revolu- 
tionists to avenge the murder of innocent men. 
The mob gathered and paraded through the 

136 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

streets and after shouting : " Hang the minis- 
ters," dispersed without committing any act of 
violence. It did seem as if at last the supremacy 
of the law was to prevail. 



137 



CHAPTER XI 

RESIGNATION OF NECKER — NECKER — THE NA- 
TIONAL GUARD THE KING's AUNTS THE 

AFFAIR OF VINCENNES THE DAY OF THE 

DAGGERS THEROIGNE DE MERICOURT MI- 

RABEAU STORY OF THE ALLEGED CONSPIRACY 

TO POISON MIRABEAU. 

Necker, whose popularity for some while back 
had been on the wane, sent in his resignation in 
the early part of September, 1790, and quietly 
took his departure for Geneva, from which town 
he could safely watch the progress of the Revo- 
lution and thank his good fortune that he had left 
before he was caught in its swirl. 

Jacques Necker, one of the most prominent 
figures in the early period of the Revolution, was 
born of Protestant parents in Geneva in 1732. 
He came to Paris when quite a young man and 
obtained a clerkship in the well-known banking 
house of the Thellusons, and in time was made a 
member of the firm. He was very successful in 
several speculations and retired from business 
after accumulating a large fortune. 

Ambitious to become prominent in public af- 
fairs, he wrote a eulogy on the great Colbert 
and won the prize of the Academic Frangaise. 
The work attracted considerable attention and 
138 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

gained for him quite a reputation in the literary 
and poHtical world. He subsequently, in 1775, 
published his " Essai sur la legislation et le com- 
merce des grains " — " Essay regarding legislation 
and the export of grain," in which he attacked 
the free trade policy of Turgot. 

Necker's wife, whose maiden name was 
Suzanne Curchod, was a Swiss by birth, the 
daughter of a Protestant clergyman. She had 
been carefully educated and had conducted suc- 
cessfully a school in Geneva. In her early years 
while in Lausanne, she was wooed by Edward 
Gibbon, the great historian, and almost became 
his bride. 

She was altogether a very remarkable woman 
and although not beautiful she was at all times 
very interesting and a most brilliant conversa- 
tionalist. Her husband's great fortune enabled 
her to entertain extensively and her salon became 
one of the most famous in Paris. Her receptions 
were attended by the brightest wits and the most 
prominent men in the world of letters, art, and 
politics. In fact, her Fridays rivaled the Mon- 
days of Madame Geoffrin and the Tuesdays of 
Madame Helvetius. She was a woman of ready 
wit, was devotedly attached to her husband, had 
supreme confidence in his ability, and left no 
stone unturned to promote his political fortunes. 
She was greatly assisted in her entertainments by 
her daughter, the celebrated Madame de Stael. 

M. Necker was not so well fitted as his wife to 
shine in society, but he looked wise, was pompous 
in manner, and had the reputation of being the 

139 



ROBESPIERRE 

ablest financier in France. It may be said In this 
connection that he himself had no doubt in his 
own mind that his ability was even greater than 
his reputation. 

He was rather striking in appearance : his 
face was strong but amiable in expression; his 
eyes were sharp and piercing and overhung by 
heavy shaggy eyebrows. As he advanced in 
years his figure grew bulky and corpulent, so that 
he was not graceful in carriage and he ever 
lacked that innate air of ease and refinement that 
was noticeable among most of his associates. Un- 
fortunately he thought himself possessed of great 
wit, and in his efforts to become agreeable he 
often became tiresome. His voice was not pleas- 
ant in its tones and he was without any of the at- 
tributes of the orator. 

As a banker and first-class business man, his 
powers were remarkable, but he was without the 
qualifications for a politician or a statesman. He 
did not know how to judge character, to manage 
men, or to control events. His overweening van- 
ity and conceit induced him to believe that he 
was equal to any emergency ; he thought he could 
save France alone, refusing to act with La Fay- 
ette or Mirabeau or to form an alliance with any 
of the prominent men of that day. 

Robespierre, when he first came to Paris as a 
deputy, was greatly impressed with the impor- 
tance and reputation of Necker, for at that 
period all France was ringing with his fame ; but, 
as time ran on Robespierre's admiration waned 
and he became one of the minister's most caustic 
140 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

critics. Necker, in time, looked with contempt 
upon Robespierre, whom he considered a man of 
phrases and one who wasted pubHc time in the 
wordy discussion of questions upon which he 
was not well informed. Between these two men 
it would have been impossible to form a lasting 
personal or confidential union. Both were vain 
and self-sufficient, but in every other respect they 
were totally unlike. In fact, among all the lead- 
ers in the French Revolution none resembled 
Robespierre. He was unique, he stood alone. 
Mirabeau and Danton, for instance, bore in some 
respects a close resemblance to each other, indeed 
likenesses may be drawn between many men of 
that period; but this is not the case with Robes- 
pierre. He had no counterpart, and among all 
his contemporaries there was none more unlike 
him in character and temperament than Necker. 

' Necker brought to the management of the 
finances of a great government the same methods 
that he would have applied to the affairs of a 
private banking house. The real trouble with 
him was that his vision never got beyond the 
folios of the national ledger. France needed a 
statesman; he was only a financier. 

When he was first appointed minister of 
finance, following in the footsteps of Turgot — 
the ablest political economist of that day — he at 
once inaugurated great reforms. He reduced 
expenditures, abolished useless offices, pensions, 
and privileges, equalized taxation, and attempted 
to curb and restrain the iniquitous exactions of 
the farmers-general. He was sincere, honesty 
141 ( 



ROBESPIERRE 

and patriotic, serving in his office without pay, 
and often drawing on his own fortune to relieve 
the exigencies of the State and to alleviate the 
sufferings of the poor; so it was natural that he 
should be regarded with favor by the lower and 
middle classes. His reforms, however, brought 
down upon his head the denunciation of the no- 
bility and the privileged classes and he was desig- 
nated an adventurer and a charlatan. 

He opposed the recognition of the independ- 
ence of the American Colonies, not because he 
did not at heart sympathize with them in their 
struggle for freedom, but because he saw as a 
financier that embarking upon a war with 
England would cause a drain upon the treasury 
of France that it could not stand, and therein 
unquestionably he was right. 

In 1 78 1, he published his celebrated " Account 
Rendered " and thus revealed to the world the 
financial condition of the government and the 
way the money of the people had been wasted 
and squandered. 

Expressing about this time a desire to enter 
the cabinet of the king, from which by law he 
was excluded because of his religion, he was told 
that if he abjured his creed, his request might be 
favorably considered. At once ' he sent in his 
resignation as Minister of Finance, believing, 
however, that it would be refused, but to his 
amazement and mortification it was accepted, 
and he was compelled to go into retirement. 

In September, 1788, however, he was recalled 
142 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

by the king to take charge of the disordered 
finances. 

It was Necker who urged the calHng of the 
States-General. But he saw nothing alarming 
except the threatened deficit; and his speech at 
the opening session of that great congress proved 
that he had no true conception of the real dan- 
gers that menaced the nation. He looked upon 
the Assembly merely as a medium to grant 
money, not to originate and organize reforms. 

He had been influential in securing the double 
representation of the Third Estate; but, when 
it came to a question of the reunion of the three 
orders, he hesitated to act promptly and deci- 
sively, and allowed the king to be forced by the 
Assembly instead of taking the initiative and or- 
dering the three estates to meet in common. This 
was the first great turning point in the Revolu- 
tion, and if Necker had been a statesman of 
broad and constructive intellect, of foresight, 
courage, and resolution, he would have insisted 
upon bringing the three orders together and 
might have saved the monarchy by placing it 
upon constitutional foundations ; for at this period 
even the most radical revolutionist did not desire 
its complete destruction. 

On the nth of July, 1789, Necker was sum- 
marily dismissed from office; but the uprising 
of the people and the fall of the Bastile induced 
the king to recall him at once, and his return, 
as we have already seen, was a veritable triumph. 
But at this time France needed a statesman of 
143 



ROBESPIERRE 

commanding ability and power, not a banker, a 
mere negotiator of loans; and this man, who 
upon his return in July, 1789, had been wel- 
comed with every demonstration of joy, soon had 
fallen so low in the estimation of the people that 
his departure, in September, 1790, did not ex- 
cite the slightest public interest. He was fortu- 
nate, however, in being able to quit the kingdom 
without interference, for had he remained it 
would have been at his life's risk. 

The National Guard, which played so conspic- 
uous and important a part in the Revolution, was 
organized as a militia or constabulary force. It 
consisted of citizens over a certain age, who were 
to respond at a moment's call to defend the capi- 
tal or to preserve public order. A clearer desig- 
nation of the body, perhaps, would be to call it 
a Home Guard. General La Fayette was its 
commander. 

In November, 1790, Rabaut Saint Etienne 
made a motion in the Assembly that the National 
Guard should be composed only of taxpayers. 
The purpose of this proposition was to exclude 
from the ranks of the organization the rabble, 
or what were termed insubstantial citizens. 

Mirabeau favored the motion, but Robespierre 

vehemently opposed it on the ground that it was 

making a distinction which was undemocratic in 

principle and that it appeared to gauge a man's 

patriotism by the amount of taxes he paid. In 

the evening, at a meeting of the Jacobins, the 

matter was again taken up for consideration and 

Robespierre made a strong speech in opposition 
144 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

to the proposition. While in the midst of his 
argument, Mirabeau, who as president of the so- 
ciety was presiding, called him to order, hoping 
in this way to cut off further discussion of the 
question; but the meeting was at once thrown 
into confusion, and the friends of Robespierre 
rallied to his support and urged him to go on. 
Mirabeau rang the bell, vainly endeavoring to re- 
store order, then called upon his friends to sur- 
round him. Only a few, however, responded, 
and Robespierre, whose influence and importance 
had so rapidly grown in the Jacobins', scored a 
decisive victory. 

In February, 1791, an incident occurred which, 
though trivial in itself, threw all Paris into a 
tumult. Louis had two aunts living at Belle- 
vue, near Paris, who thought it about time to 
leave France and find a sanctuary in Rome. They 
were two elderly maiden ladies named Adelaide 
and Victoire, daughters of Louis XV, and of so 
little importance politically that they had long 
since passed out of the public eye. After all 
their arrangements were made to quit the king- 
dom, they found, much to their dismay, that the 
authorities would not honor their request for 
passports. The air for some time past had been 
filled with rumors that it was the intention of the 
king to go to Metz, and the flight of the 
princesses was declared to be but the prelude to 
the escape of the royal family. 

Blatant orators harangued the people and pre- 
dicted all kinds of disaster if these two old ladies 
were permitted to depart. A mob of fishwomen 
10 14s 



ROBESPIERRE 

soon gathered and threatened to march forthwith 
to Bellevue. The king sent word at once to his 
aunts to come to Paris, and, disguised as servants, 
they eluded the mob and reached the Tuileries in 
safety. Here they continued their preparations 
and at the first opportunity fled. 

Mirabeau had advised Louis to prevent the de- 
parture of his aunts, but Louis as usual refused 
to take advice. 

When it was ascertained that the princesses had 
gone, a great mob of people to the number of 
50,000, gathered around the Tuileries and threat- 
ened its destruction, so that it required a show 
of military force to keep the crowd at bay. Can- 
non were planted in commanding positions and 
the National Guards under La Fayette were 
drawn up in line of battle. 

Out of the slums and from the gardens of the 
Palais Royal came a horde of harpies led by that 
beautiful amazon, Theroigne de Mericourt, the 
notorious leader of the demimonde. Paris was 
wild with excitement, wrought up to a fury by 
the appeals of the demagogues who demanded the 
arrest of the fugitives that they might be held as 
hostages for the good behavior of the emigrants. 
Shops were closed, business was suspended 
throughout the city, and the streets were thronged 
with excited people. And all this was the result 
of the departure from Paris of two inoffensive 
old ladies. 

Even the Assembly sat in solemn conclave and 
brushed aside all other business to deliberate 
gravely upon this important matter. Robes- 
146 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

pierre declared that the king, if he were acting in 
good faith, owed it to the nation to compel the 
return of the fugitives. Mirabeau asked in a sar- 
castic vein : " Is there any law against travel- 
ing?" "Yes; the safety of the people," was 
the answer. " Obedience to the law is the safety 
of the people," retorted Mirabeau. At last, after 
much discussion, Menou showed the ridiculous 
side of the case by saying: "Europe will be 
amazed to learn that this great Assembly at- 
taches such importance to the question as to 
whether two old ladies shall hear mass in Paris or 
in Rome." 

While all these events were transpiring in the 
capital, the princesses were hastening on their 
way. Twice they were stopped, once at Moret 
and afterwards at Arny-le-duc, but at last they 
crossed the frontier in safety and passed out of 
history. 

The flight of the king's aunts induced the peo- 
ple to believe that Louis, if he could, would soon 
follow. 

It was not strange that the public suspected his 
intentions, for any reasonable man could see that 
there was only one thing under the circumstances 
for the king to do. He was virtually a prisoner ; 
deprived of his liberty, shorn of all power, there 
was nothing left for him to save but his life, and 
he could save that only by escaping from his 
enemies. 

(At the sessions of the Assembly and in the 
meetings of the Jacobins, Robespierre frequently 
gave warning that it was the intention of the 
M7 



ROBESPIERRE 

king to quit Paris at the first favorable oppor- 
tunity, and insisted that every precaution should 
be taken to prevent so great a catastrophe; for, 
up to this point, although a democrat in prin- 
ciple, he believed that the Revolution could ac- 
complish no more than a reformation of the mon- 
archy. 

Several incidents occurred about this time that 
increased the public agitation and further im- 
periled the safety of the king. 

The old fortress of Vincennes, situated a short 
distance from Paris, was undergoing some re- 
pairs and the rumor M^as started that the royal- 
ists were converting it into a veritable Bastile 
and putting it in condition to withstand a siege. 
It was also rumored that a subterranean passage 
had been constructed leading from the Tuileries 
to the fortress and that the royal family would, 
by means of this exit, escape from the capital. 
These startling reports, it is believed, were put 
into circulation by the adherents and supporters 
of the Duke of Orleans. 

A large mob gathered in the faubourg Saint 
Antoine and, after being addressed by Theroigne 
de Mericourt, marched out under the leadership 
of Santerre towards Vincennes ; but it was over- 
taken by La Fayette at the head of the National 
Guard and, after some persuasion, was turned 
back from its purpose. 

During the absence of La Fayette from the 

city, a number of nobles who still remained in 

Paris, believing the king was in danger, flocked 

to the Tuileries and offered their services to his 

148 




THKROKiXE DE MEKUdlKT 

From an engraving in the collection of William J. I-atta, Esq. 
After a iiainting by Kaffet 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

Majesty. It was discovered by the soldiers on 
guard at the palace that weapons were concealed 
under the cloaks of the noblemen, and it was 
this fact that gave the episode the designation, 
" Day of the Daggers." 

The presence of the nobles and the report that 
they were armed greatly alarmed and exasperated 
the people, and they were wrought up to fury by 
the wild appeals of Theroigne de Mericourt, who, 
as usual, appeared upon the scene of tumult. 

La Fayette, upon his return, indignant and 
angry at the imprudent conduct of the king's 
friends, deprived them of their arms and ordered 
them unceremoniously out of the palace, much to 
their chagrin and mortification; and this sum- 
mary and decisive action upon the part of the gen- 
eral at once quieted the public clamor. 

Theroigne (or Lambertine) de Mericourt, who 
thus played a not inconspicuous part in the stir- 
ring scenes of the Revolution, was a celebrated 
courtezan. She was known among the people 
as '" La Belle Liegoise " and is said to have been 
born at Mericourt near Liege in Belgium. Her 
father was a respectable, well-to-do farmer, who 
was able to provide for her the advantages of an 
early education. She was of uncommon beauty 
and the story is told that a young seigneur in the 
neighborhood of her home wrought her ruin. 
It is said that she could have saved the life of 
her betrayer during the September massacres, but 
took her revenge by allowing him to perish. 

Seduced and deserted, feeling keenly her 

shame, she left her father's house and sought 
149 



ROBESPIERRE 

refuge in England ; but after a few months' resi- 
dence in that country she came to Paris and, 
seeming to have lost all feeling of shame, plunged 
into the gay life of that city. In time her salon 
became one of the most notorious and brilliant 
of its class. Robespierre is said to have occa- 
sionally attended her receptions. 

When the Revolution arrived she plunged 
into its vortex with all the enthusiasm and bitter- 
ness of her nature. She was present at the at- 
tack upon the Bastile, and on the 5th of October, 
side by side with the ferocious Jourdan, called 
the man with the long beard, she led the women 
to Versailles. Here she assisted in corrupting 
the soldiers of the Flanders regiment by taking 
young girls into their ranks to influence them and 
by the lavish distribution of money. So per- 
suasive was she that she succeeded in winning the 
troops to the popular cause; in fact, Madame 
Campan, in her Memoirs, states that one of the 
soldiers who in his enthusiastic loyalty had tried 
at the Feast to climb into the balcony box of the 
king to pay his homage, was, on the morning 
of the 6th of October, at the head of the column 
leading the attack upon the palace. 

Theroigne was present at every uprising of 
the people and led the rabble, often with pike in 
hand, and urged them to desperate deeds. In all 
these scenes of tumult she wore a picturesque 
costume — a riding habit of red silk and a large 
hat with long plumes — and carried a stout sabre 
and two pistols in her belt. This Joan of Arc 
of the Sans Culottes was a terror to the royalists. 

150 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

She often harangued the stormy meetings of 
the clubs, and, although she spoke with a foreign 
accent, her eloquence was effective and was de- 
scribed by Camille Desmoulins as that of a 
Judith. 

Upon a certain occasion she made a visit to the 
Cordeliers, and, ascending the tribune, demanded 
that the Republic should build a temple to liberty 
on the very spot where had stood the Bastile. 
She declared that personal contributions should 
be made for this purpose, that the women should 
donate their jewels and ornaments, and, suiting 
the action to the word, she stripped her own 
from her neck and arms and amidst the greatest 
applause piled them on the tribune, offering them 
as a gift to the nation. " Thus lavishing on lib- 
erty," says Lamartine, " the wealth she had de- 
rived from vice." 

She was sent to Liege to induce the people 
to rise, but was captured by the Austrians and 
carried a prisoner to Vienna, where, it is said, 
she had an interview with the emperor who, 
after a short confinement, set her at liberty and 
in 1792 she returned to Paris. Shortly after her 
arrival she was invited by the Jacobins to give 
an account of her experiences in Austria, and 
when she accepted the invitation and appeared at 
the club she was escorted to the rostrum leaning 
on the arm of Joseph Chenier. 

She took part in the procession of the 20th of 
June, 1792, known as the " Day of the Black 
Breeches," * and also in the attack upon the 

^ See " Danton and the French Revolution," p. 200. 
151 



ROBESPIERRE 

Tuileries on the loth of August,^ 1792/ and with 
her own sword struck down the royalist editor 
Sulean, who had time and again abused her in 
the columns of his paper. 

As she lived sumptuously, dressed like a queen, 
and rode most aristocratically through the streets 
of the city in her own carriage, such luxury could 
but give offence to her sisters of the slums; and 
when, after the downfall of the Girondins, she 
evinced a reactionary spirit, the furies of the guil- 
lotine, whom she had so often led, stripped and 
publicly flogged her on the terrace of the Tuile- 
ries. They would have ended their work by 
ducking her in the basin of the fountain, if the 
police had not interfered. 

During the " Reign of Terror " she became 
insane and was confined in a mad-house. In her 
paroxysms she would tear all clothing from her 
body, and, clinging to the bars of the window 
of her cell, would call upon Robespierre to aid 
her, harangue imaginary mobs, demand the blood 
of Sulean and rehearse the part she had taken 
in the thrilling events of the past. She died in 
1817 in the Salpetriere, a raving maniac. 
'^;i;^The one grand dominating figure during this 
period of the Revolution, who centred in him- 
self the attention of all France and whose sur- 
passing genius, talents, and power seemed to 
throw other men into the shade, was Gabriel 
Honore Riquetti, le Comte de Mirabeau. 

No two men in the Revolution, in any of its 
periods, wielded greater power and influence 

1 See " Danton and the French Revolution," p. 238. 
152 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

than Mirabeau and Robespierre; yet it would be 
hard to find two men between whom a more 
marked contrast could be drawn. Mentally and 
physically they were totally unlike; hence their 
methods, tastes, desires, and appearance were 
entirely different. One was open and bold; the 
other secretive and cunning. One was luxurious ; 
the other ascetic in his tastes. One was showy, 
impressive, fiery, defiant, and resolute; the other 
commonplace, reserved, and naturally timid. 
Yet Robespierre, the weaker man, reached in 
time — that is, in the days of the " Reign of Ter- 
ror " — a more commanding position in directing 
public opinion and in controlling public affairs 
than was held by his mighty colleague Mirabeau 
in the first years of the Revolution. 
^ .. A patrician by birth, Mirabeau had inherited 
/ all the passions and the vices of a wild and an 
unrestrained ancestry. He was by nature a 
voluptuary, to whom every sensuous pleasure 
was a temptation. With a desire and a capacity 
for indulgence and enjoyment, and with no moral 
principles to hold his appetites in check, he yielded 
to them freely. Although he espoused the pop- 
ular cause, the Revolution did not change his 
tastes, but provided an opportunity to gratify 
them. He lived luxuriously and surrounded him- 
self with flowers and music and art and beauti- 
ful women. He entertained with a most lavish 
hand and as a host was unrivaled even in Paris. 
At his table sat distinguished men from every 
walk in life. His delicate wines and dainty 
dishes almost corrupted the austere virtues of 
153 



ROBESPIERRE 

Camille. Robespierre himself at one time fell 
under the spell of this magician. 

Although fond of high living, Mirabeau was, 
on the other hand, a tremendous worker of in- 
defatigable energy; his brain fairly teemed with 
plots ajid counter-plots. Coquetting with the 
court, allaying the suspicions of the radicals, de- 
veloping and carrying out his mighty projects, 
attempting to stem the now rapidly flowing cur- 
rent of the Revolution, battling single-handed 
with his foes on all sides — for they assailed 
him from every quarter, and for recreation after 
his herculean labors indulging in gross dissipa- 
tion, he was gradually undermining his strength, 
gigantic as it was. 

His opponents irritated him by constant in- 
terruptions in the Assembly and openly assailed 
him in the clubs. Almost overwhelmed one 
night at the Jacobins' by a combined and con- 
certed attack of a number of his enemies, he sum- 
moned all his strength, hurled them from him, 
one after the other, and emerged from the con- 
flict in triumph. Robespierre does not appear to 
have taken any part in this controversy. It was 
mainly waged by the men who afterwards formed 
the faction of the Feuillants. 

Holding so conspicuous a position, having so 
many opposing interests to satisfy, and without 
the support of a united party, Mirabeau concen- 
trated upon himself personally the attacks of all 
factions. He labored not for the overthrow of 
the monarchy, but for the abolition of despotism. 

154 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

and in his efforts to establish a constitutional 
throne he was subjected to a cross fire from the 
supporters of the ancient regime on one side and 
from the extreme revolutionists on the other. 

He had made a great effort to form a com- 
bination with the king, the queen, Necker, and 
La Fayette; but the unfortunate part of it was 
that he could never solidify the mass. The king 
and the queen feared him ; Necker and La Fayette 
mistrusted him and, at the same time, were en- 
vious of his power. To unite them he resorted 
to every conceivable device. He appealed to 
their patriotism, to their ambitions; he flattered, 
he cajoled, he pleaded; he played them against 
each other, and most adroitly laid his plans to 
encompass his ends. If he had been given the 
assistance he required he might have saved the 
monarchy. 

His superb audacity, his invincible courage, his 
fertility of resource, his ingenuity, his compre- 
hensive and constructive statesmanship, his skill 
as a politician, his overpowering eloquence and, 
above all, his supreme confidence in himself made 
almost everything possible with him. But the 
reconstruction of the monarchy was too heavy a 
burden on the shoulders of even this Atlas; he 
could not bear alone the superincumbent weight ; 
he needed the aid that was close at hand but 
which he could not command. 

It was his past life of profligacy, infamy, in- 
trigue, and treachery that created distrust in the 
minds of all men; in consequence, he could not 
155 



ROBESPIERRE 

secure the unreserved confidence of any. His 
magnificent genius was neutralized by his bad 
reputation. 
^., He and the monarchy depended upon each 
' other, but their Hves were ebbing fast. In April, 
1 79 1, the great tribune passed away. "II 
mournt," said Baudin, "a la Ueur de son age et 
au plus haut degre de sa gloire " — " He died in 
the flower of his age and at the height of his 
glory." With his demise closed the first period 
of the Revolution. 

Barnave, Duport, and the Lameths immedi- 
ately after his death moderated their fierce radi- 
calism. They now plainly saw, in the increasing 
violence of the Revolution, whither the State 
was drifting, and they quietly went to work to 
create a reaction. Their first step in this direc- 
tion was to try to trace the threads of the many 
schemes that had been woven by the master hand 
of Mirabeau. This was impossible, and they 
soon found that it was far beyond their ability 
to fill the position once occupied by their old-time 
enemy. 

The States-General met in May, 1789; Mira- 
beau died in April, 1791, so that there was a 
space of only about two years between these two 
events. Yet in this period more reforms had 
been effected than the most ardent and sanguine 
reformer at the beginning of the Revolution could 
have anticipated. The abuses of feudalism had 
been destroyed, as well as the salt monopoly, ti- 
tles, privileges, exemptions, and pensions. The 
civil list had been reduced and modified and a 

156 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

system of uniform taxation had been established ; 
indeed, from a conservative's point of view, there 
was nothing further to be done but to restore or- 
der and to place the monarchy upon a firm foun- 
dation of constitutionalism. 

But the Revolution was rushing on like a tor- 
rent and it was beyond the power of any faction 
to stay or even to divert its course. It now be- 
came nothing but a struggle among the parties for 
political power and supremacy. 

When Mirabeau died Robespierre uttered no 
regrets ; there was one obstacle less between him 
and his ambition. " Achilles is dead," he ex- 
claimed, " then Troy will not be taken." " So 
long as Mirabeau lived," said Baudin, " Robes- 
pierre remained confounded, with the crowd of 
deputies attached to the popular cause; he had 
the temerity to believe that after the death of this 
athlete he had no longer a superior." At one 
time Robespierre's admiration for Mirabeau had 
been very great; but it had since cooled. In his 
view Mirabeau was not to be trusted. Robes- 
pierre regarded him as a born aristocrat, naturally 
favoring the monarchy, as a paid agent of the 
court, a revolutionist only because his ambition 
found in the excitement of the Revolution a 
theatre for his talents and his genius. His vices, 
his tastes, his extravagance, his profligacy, and 
his venality were distasteful to the ascetic deputy 
from Arras, who could not reconcile such traits, 
habits, and conduct with the pure and simple 
doctrines of democracy. 

Mirabeau died after but a few days' illness 
157 -^^ " 



ROBESPIERRE 

and it was generally believed that he had been 
stricken down by the administration of a slow 
poison. 

It is related in " The Memoirs of a Peer of 
France " that Robespierre, in an unguarded mo- 
ment, boasted of having been concerned in a con- 
spiracy that had for its object the murder of 
Mirabeau by poison. 

The narrative recites that Marat furnished 
the recipe — taking good care that the ingredients 
should be deadly — and that Robespierre, with 
the aid of two or three other confederates, ad- 
ministered the potion while Mirabeau was at din- 
ner. The story is very interesting but totally 
unsubstantial, and the whole fabric falls to the 
ground in view of the fact that the autopsy failed 
to find the slightest trace of poison. 

It was perfectly natural, when a man of dis- 
tinction died suddenly in those days of excitement 
and suspicion, that there should spring up a crop 
of rumors and all sorts of sensational stories. 
As usual, Robespierre was made to appear as a 
conspicuous actor in one of the alleged conspira- 
cies. Irrespective of the autopsy, the story has 
no probabilities. In the first place, Robespierre 
was naturally reticent and was about the last 
man in the kingdom to reveal, had he been con- 
cerned in it, so important a secret. In the second 
place he was most abstemious in his habits and 
not given to talking in his cups. And finally,/ 
from all we know of his character, there is no 
reason to believe that he would act the part of 
a common assassin and enter into so vile a con- 
spiracy. ,^ 
IS8 



CHAPTER XII 

THE king's flight TO VARENNES DANTON AND 

ROBESPIERRE ATTACK LA FAYETTE AT THE 
jacobins' RETURN OF THE KING — DEPOSI- 
TION OF KING FAVORED DUKE OF ORLEANS 

SUGGESTED AS SUCCESSOR TO LOUIS XVI. 

The king soon tired of the espionage that 
dogged his footsteps and, fearing that his life 
was in danger, made arrangements to flee the 
kingdom. 

On the night of the 20th of June, 1791, the 
royal family began their flight.^ They reached 
Varennes, were recognized, and compelled to re- 
turn to the capital. It was Jean Baptiste Drouet, 
postmaster of the town of Sainte-Menehould, 
who had the decision and courage to intercept the 
king's flight and prevent his escape. Drouet had 
been, at one time, a dragoon stationed at Ver- 
sailles, and while there had frequently seen both 
the king and the queen. Although it was in the 
dusk of the evening when they reached Sainte- 
Menehould, he had but little difficulty in recog- 
nizing them even through their disguises. This 
man, who, in the language of Napoleon, 
" changed the face of the world," hesitated, at 
first, what plan to adopt for stopping the flight;/ 

1 See " Danton and the French Revolution," p. no. 
159 



ROBESPIERRE 

but, shortly after the departure of the royal party 
from Sainte-Menehould, he mounted a horse and 
dashed wildly in pursuit of the fugitives, overtak- 
ing them at Varennes. Here, although it was 
midnight, he aroused the town, called out the 
mayor, ordered the ringing of the tocsin, and 
with some companions overturned a wagon on 
the bridge over which the king had to go to es- 
cape; then, hurrying back to the royal coach, 
which by this time was surrounded by a crowd of 
excited citizens, he boldly and positively identified 
Louis and urged the detention of the royal party. 
Had it not been for Drouet there is every reason 
to believe that the king would have escaped, and 
the Revolution then would have been a different 
story. 

Paris, when it awoke on the morning of the 
2ist, was startled by the news that the king had 
fled. At first the truth could hardly be realized. 
The community seemed stunned; like a suddenly 
aroused sleeper, it was half dazed and recovered 
its senses slowly. As is usual under such circum- 
stances of surprise and astonishment, not know- 
ing what else to do, men and boys began running 
through the streets in every direction, adding to 
the general excitement without accomplishing any 
good. Crowds soon gathered and, as if actuated 
by one impulse, rushed to the Tuileries and 
sacked the palace from cellar to attic. 

No one in all Paris was so surprised and af- 
fected by the sudden departure of the prisoners 
as La Fayette.^ Time and again the king had 

1 See "Danton and the French Revolution," p. 211. 
160 





From an engraving in the collection of William T. Latta, Esq. 
After a painting by Raffet 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

declared that he would not attempt escape, and 
La Fayette, deceived by these assurances, had 
often allayed the suspicions of the people by 
standing sponsor for the king's word. Of course, 
as custodian of the royal family, he was most 
bitterly denounced and abused, for some one had 
to be held responsible for the escape of the fugi- 
tives. He mingled with the people, quieted their 
fears, and characterized the king's conduct as in- 
famous. During the day he visited the sessions 
of the Assembly and afterwards he thought it 
advisable to attend the meeting of the Jacobins 
and, if possible, quiet the bowlings of the wild 
beasts in that jungle. Before his arrival Danton 
in his rage cried out : " If the traitors venture to 
show themselves here, I undertake the solemn, 
agreement, either that my head shall fall on the 
scaffold, or that I will prove that their heads; 
should roll at the feet of the nation they have) 
betrayed." 

When the general, accompanied by some of his 
friends, entered the hall, Danton boldly charged 
him with duplicity and treason. La Fayette dis- 
played remarkable power of self-control and 
bravely withstood the attack. 

Prior to the appearance of the general at the 
Jacobins', Robespierre, in the course of an im- 
passioned speech, said : ** I am not one of those 
who term this event a disaster ; this day would be 
the most glorious of the Revolution did you but 
know how to turn it to your advantage. The 
king has chosen to quit his post at the moment 
of our most deadly perils, both at home and 
11 i6i 



ROBESPIERRE 

abroad. The Assembly has lost its credit, all 
men's minds are excited by the coming elections. 
The emigres are at Coblentz. The emperor and 
the king of Sweden are at Brussels ; our harvests 
are ripe to feed their troops; but three millions 
of men are under arms in France, and this league 
of Europe may easily be vanquished. I fear 
neither Leopold nor the king of Sweden, but the 
enemies at home. That which alone terrifies me 
seems to reassure all others; it is the fact that 
since this morning all our enemies affect to use 
the same language as ourselves. All men are 
united and in appearance wear the same aspect. 
It is impossible that all can feel the same joy 
at the flight of a king who possessed a revenue 
of forty million francs, and who distributed all 
the offices of state amongst his adherents and our 
enemies. There are traitors then among us, 
there is a secret understanding between the fugi- 
tive king and these traitors who have remained 
at Paris. Read the king's manifesto and the 
whole plot will then be unveiled. The king, the 
emperor, the king of Sweden, d'Artois, Conde, 
all the fugitives, all these brigands are about to 
march against us. A paternal manifesto will 
appear in which the king will talk of his love 
of peace and even of liberty, whilst at the same 
time the traitors in the capital and in the depart- 
ments will represent you, on their part, as the 
leaders of a civil war. Thus the Revolution will 
be stifled in the embraces of hypocritical despot- 
ism and intimidated moderation. Look already 
at the Assembly: in twenty decrees the king's 

162 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

flight is termed carrying off by force. To whom 
does it intrust the safety of the people? To a 
minister of foreign affairs under the inspection 
of a diplomatic committee. Who is the minis- 
ter? A traitor, whom I have unceasingly de- 
nounced to you, the persecutor of the patriot sol- 
diers, the upholder of the aristocrat oflicers. 
What is the committee ? A committee of traitors 
composed of all our enemies beneath the garb of 
patriots. And the minister of foreign affairs, 
who is he? A traitor, a Montmorin, who but a 
short month ago declared a perfidious adoration 
of the Constitution. And Delissart — who is 
he? A traitor to whom Necker has bequeathed 
his mantle to cover his plots and conspiracies. 

" Do you not see the coalition of these men 
with the king and of the king with the European 
League? That will crush us! In an instant you 
will see all the men of 1789 — mayor, general, 
ministers, orators, enter this room. How can 
you escape Antony? Antony commands the 
legions that are about to avenge Caesar; and Oc- 
tavius, Caesar's nephew, commands the legions of 
the republic. How can the republic hope to 
avoid destruction? We are frequently told of 
the necessity of uniting ourselves ; but, when An- 
tony encamped by the side of Lepidus and all 
the foes of freedom were united to those who 
termed themselves its defenders, naught remained 
for Brutus and Cassius save to die. 

" It is to this point that this feigned unanimity, 
this perfidious reconciliation of patriots, tends. 

Yes, this is the fate prepared for you. I know 

163 



ROBESPIERRE 

that by daring to unveil these conspiracies, I 
sharpen a thousand daggers against my own life. 
I know the fate that awaits me; but if, when al- 
most unknown in the National Assembly I 
amongst the earliest apostles of liberty dedicated 
my life to the cause of truth, of humanity, of my 
country, to-day when I have been so amply repaid 
for this dedication by such marks of universal 
good-will, consideration, and regard, I shall look 
at death as a mercy, if it prevents my witnessing 
such misfortunes. I have tried the Assembly; 
let them in their turn try me." 

This speech is characteristic of Robespierre. It 
is a laudation of his patriotism, and evinces 
a willingness to immolate himself upon his 
country's altar, if it be for his country's 
good. It was very adroitly phrased, how- 
ever, for such an occasion, when men's minds 
were disturbed and their sympathies easily 
aroused. By this constant protestation of his 
patriotism, he was daily gaining in popularity. 
Outside of these features, however, the speech, 
it must be admitted, has real merit. It was pa- 
triotic enough to arouse enthusiasm and pathetic 
enough to stir the emotions. Eight hundred men, 
many of them with tears in their eyes, sprang 
to their feet and cheered the orator to the echo. 
(^La Fayette, by great resolution and an exhibi- 
tion of self-possession remarkable under the cir- 
cumstances, soothed the anger and allayed the 
suspicions of the people. His life was in hourly 
peril, for his enemies spread the report in every 
direction that he was in the conspiracy, else the 

164 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

king could not have escaped. Marat howled with 
rage and declared that the general had been 
seduced by the Austrian woman, and that he re- 
mained behind only to welcome the invading 
forces, under the leadership of Louis, whose pur- 
pose it was to burn the capital and deluge it with 
blood. 

The men who had been most anxious to de- 
throne the king seemed the most incensed at his 
departure and they denounced him for doing 
that which their policy had forced him to do. 
; Madame Roland, in speaking of the conduct 
of Robespierre at this time, said he was greatly 
frightened at the turn events had taken, and 
he believed that the royal family would not have 
fled without first preparing in Paris a Saint Bar- 
tholomew for patriots. Petion, Buzot, and Ro- 
land scoffed at such an idea, and declared that 
the flight of the king was an abdication, and, 
in order to profit by it, men's minds at once should 
be prepared for the republic. " Robespierre, 
sneering and biting his nails as usual, asked: 
' What is a republic ? ' " 

The capture and return of Louis set at rest all 
the fears and suspicions of the people, and proved 
convincingly the innocence of La Fayette. 

The king's flight was considered by the radicals 
as an abdication, and a demand for the establish- 
ment of a republic was heard in all quarters. 
Many who had heretofore favored the mon- 
archy were now outspoken in their desire for a 
popular government. It was argued that a king 
who attempted to abandon his kingdom was not 

i6s 



ROBESPIERRE 

worthy to wear its crown, a ruler who deserted 
his people was not entitled to their allegiance. 
"No more king — let us be repubhcans," wrote 
Brissot in the columns of the " Patriot Frangois." 

Robespierre in the Assembly demanded that 
civic crowns be given to those patriots who had 
arrested Louis and his family in their flight. 
" They deserve well of the nation," he cried, 
" and the people should be willing to bestow a 
distinguished honor upon those men to whom 
they owe so much." 

Time always allays excitement. Matters soon 
quieted down and, strange to say, a decided reac- 
tion took place. The populace, when they re- 
turned again to reason, seemed so glad to have 
the king once more in their midst, housed in his 
palace, that they received without questioning the 
silly excuses and explanations he gave for his 
attempted escape. People generally are willing 
to accept as true that which they are anxious to 
believe. In fact, so strong had the sentiment 
grown in favor of the king, that when Billaud- 
Varennes at the Jacobins' proposed the consider- 
ation of the question as to whether a republic was 
not better for France than a monarchy, he was 
reprimanded by the chair and threatened with 
expulsion. 

The reaction, however, was but temporary; 
the radicals were at work. Appeals from all 
quarters began to reach the Assembly asking for 
the establishment of a republic. Laclos, a deputy, 
proposed that petitions be sent into all the prov- 
inces to be covered with ten million signatures. 
j66 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

At the Jacobins', the sentiment soon had so 
changed that the deposition of the king was 
openly demanded, and it was moved that an op- 
portunity be given to the people to express their 
views on the question, Danton declared : " And 
I, too, love peace, but not the peace of slavery. 
If we have energy, let us show it. Let those who 
do not feel courage to rise and beard tyranny, 
refrain from signing our petition." " The mo- 
ment has now come," declared Robespierre, 
" when the people must decide whether or not 
they shall abide under the rule of that king who 
finds it to his interest to abandon them." 

To change suddenly or abruptly from a mon- 
archy to a republic is hazardous at all times, and 
many of the leaders, wiser and far more conserva- 
tive than their followers, feared that conditions 
were not yet ripe for a change, and believed that 
it was necessary to create a stronger public senti- 
ment in its favor before attempting to effect it. 

In view of the unpopularity of Louis, a number 
of the retainers of the Duke of Orleans were sug- 
gesting him as a suitable candidate for the throne ; 
but this movement met with little support and 
was most earnestly opposed by Robespierre. 
There was no benefit to be expected from a mere 
change of dynasty; for, if France was to remain 
a kingdom, Louis with his weakness was after all 
far better than his profligate cousin, the duke, 
whom Arthur Young described as a silly and 
stupid giggler. When this matter was submitted 
to Danton, he said that if anybody was to be the 
successor of Louis it must be his son, but as be- 

167 



ROBESPIERRE 

tween the son and a republic he preferred the lat- 
ter. 

(K retrospective view of the Revolution is in- 
teresting here because it is this point that marks 
the beginning of a new phase in its history. 
From the meeting of the States-General in May, 
1789, to the 6th day of October of the same 
year, when the mob brought the king from Ver- 
sailles to Paris, the scenes were tumultuous and 
exciting; but after this period, for almost two 
years, there was a comparative lull. The king 
was closely guarded in the palace of the Tuileries, 
but there was no purpose to deprive him of his 
crown and title. The Assembly effected many 
sweeping reforms in both Church and State, and 
was busily engaged in framing a Constitution 
that was to restrict but not to destroy royal au- 
thority. The emigrant princes were, of course, 
conspiring, but they acted with caution, for fear 
their conduct might arouse the slumbering mob 
and thus endanger the life of the king. The 
flight of Louis, however, was fatal to the mon- 
archy, and from this time dates the effort made 
for its overthrow and the establishment of a re- 
public. 

The Revolution gradually grew more violent as 
time ran on, until it resulted in the overturning of 
the throne and the execution of the king, cul- 
minating in the " Reign of Terror." 



168 



CHAPTER XIII 

ADDRESS ISSUED BY THE REPUBLICAN SOCIETY 

THOMAS PAINE VOLTAIRE FUNERAL OF 

VOLTAIRE. 

On the I St of July, 1791, there appeared, 
posted on the walls of Paris and even nailed to 
the doors of the Assembly, an address signed by 
Achille Duchatelet, a young colonel in the army, 
representing an association called " The Repub- 
lican Society." 

The address reminded the people of the unity 
of sentiment and the tranquillity that prevailed 
during the absence of the king; it held that his 
flight was not only an abandonment of his throne 
but an abdication of his power and title, and that 
the people were relieved from all allegiance to 
their sovereign; that all engagements between 
them were broken, and that the nation should 
renounce all intention of giving itself another 
king. It ended with the words : " Long live the 
Republic!" 

It did not take much in those days of excite- 
ment and suspicion to create alarm, and the As- 
sembly was thrown into consternation. If there 
was to be a change in the form of government 
the Convention had the power to effect it, but 
here was a mysterious society that treated the 
169 



ROBESPIERRE 

monarchy as a thing dead, the king as having 
laid aside his crown, and announced the existence 
of a repubhc, thus virtually usurping the powers 
and the functions of the legislature. How far- 
reaching the association was in its influence no 
one could tell, and it was this uncertainty that 
caused the uneasiness. Strange to say, the procla- 
mation created amazement rather than enthu- 
siasm. The Assembly was not yet ready to de- 
throne a king, whom a year and a half afterwards 
it beheaded. 

The address that created such an excitement 
was written by Thomas Paine, an Englishman 
who had been chosen as a deputy to the National 
Convention by the electors of Calais. He was 
born at Thetford, in Norfolk, in 1737. His 
father was a staymaker and a Quaker. The boy 
received a common-school education, for a time 
followed the business of his father, afterwards 
opened a grocer's shop, and subsequently was 
appointed an exciseman. 

In 1774, he sailed for America with letters of 
introduction from Benjamin Franklin, whom he 
had met in England, and for whom he had a 
high admiration, which was reciprocated by the 
American sage. 

He settled in Philadelphia, and edited a peri- 
odical called " The Pennsylvania Magazine." 
When hostilities began between England and her 
colonies, he strongly espoused the cause of the 
latter, and wrote a work entitled " Common 
Sense," which met with such approbation among 
his American friends that the legislature of Penn- 

170 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

sylvania voted him five hundred pounds, and the 
University of Pennsylvania honored him with 
the degree of Master of Arts. 

At first the book was pubHshed anonymously 
and created the greatest sensation. The author- 
ship was attributed in turn to many Americans, 
among whom was John Adams, and it was some 
time before the real author was known. 
( He had a facile pen, his style in composition 
was clear, forcible, and graceful. Franklin looked 
upon him as one of the first writers of the age, 
and Jefferson, than whom few if any ever wrote 
purer English, said Paine was the only man in 
America who could surpass him in the use of his 
mother tongue. He is credited with having writ- 
ten the first draft of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, which means, perhaps, that he simply 
made some suggestions as to the contents of the 
great paper, for it is not fair to dim, in the slight- 
est degree, the glory of its illustrious author. 

In 1776, he published "The Crisis," which 
contained the oft-repeated quotation : " These 
are the times that try men's souls." 

During the American Revolution he won the 
regard of Washington, and was appointed aide- 
de-camp to General Green. He shouldered a 
musket at Valley Forge and afterward took part 
in the battle of Trenton. 

In 1787, he embarked for France, visited Paris, 
and then went to England. On the appearance 
of Burke's " Reflections on the French Revolu- 
tion," he wrote " The Rights of Man," for the 
publication of which he was prosecuted. It was 
171 



ROBESPIERRE 

at this time he was chosen a deputy to the French 
Assembly. While the trial was pending, he es- 
caped from England, reached Paris in safety, and 
took his seat in the Convention. Marat alwaysy 
looked upon him with suspicion, but Danton and - 
Robespierre seemed to have great respect for his 
judgment, and they frequently consulted with him 
on public questions. 

He offended the Jacobins by voting at the 
king's trial against the sentence of death. " Let 
us kill the king," he said, " but not the man." 
Bravely he stood his ground at the peril of his 
life in defence of Louis, and even went so far as 
to prepare an argument showing why the king 
should not be condemned to execution. This 
paper he wrote in English and had translated into 
French and read to the Assembly. 

In 1793, he was arrested and sent to the Lux- 
embourg. While here in the shadow of the 
scaffold, he finished his work, " The Age of 
Reason," It was this book, because of its liberal 
doctrines, that injured him in the estimation of 
many of his friends in America. 

He was released from prison, almost imme- 
diately after the death of Robespierre, remained 
in Paris until 1802, and then embarked for Amer- 
ica, where he died in 1809, in the seventy-third 
year of his age. On his monument were in- 
scribed the words of his creed : " The world is 
my country, mankind are my friends, to do good 
is my religion." 

His address, which created such an excitement, 
declaring the monarchy was no more, was, after 
172 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

all, only about a year in advance of the actual 
deposition of the king. 

While Louis XIV was in the very zenith of his 
power, and reigned in all the glory and pomp of 
absolute authority at Versailles, a child was born 
in a suburb of Paris, who was, in time, to shake 
the throne, break down the barriers of caste, and 
undermine even the foundations of religion. 

Francois Marie Arouet, better known under 
his pseudonym of Voltaire, was sovereign in the 
world of letters, the most influential writer of his 
age. He was born at Chatenay, in 1694. His 
father was a lawyer in affluent circumstances and 
of high social connections. The family belonged 
to the refined well-to-do middle class. The boy 
consequently enjoyed every advantage that wealth 
and position could afford. He was educated in 
a college under the care of the Jesuits. His 
talents were not only extraordinary but preco- 
cious, for at the age of seventeen he wrote a 
drama that even to this day holds its place in 
the French classics. 

After his graduation he could have led a life 
of elegant leisure had he been so inclined, but 
instead he entered the lists as a reformer, and 
waged a relentless battle against wrong. 

No man was ever better equipped for so des- 
perate a fray, and the world never offered so 
great an opportunity to such a disputant. He 
came forward in the days of the regency, when 
the nobility and the hierarchy were corrupt and 
dissolute, and when scepticism had eaten into the 
very vitals of religion. Many of the upper clergy 

173 "~ 



ROBESPIERRE 

by their profligate conduct refuted their profes- 
sions of faith, and reflected upon the great insti- 
tution they represented. The abuses in both 
Church and State were scandalous, and they be- 
came the objects of Voltaire's attacks. 

Hypocrisy and injustice cowered under the 
shafts of his merciless satire. Pretension, sham, 
and fraud received no mercy at his hands. Ridi- 
cule was his strongest weapon, and his sneer had 
the force of logic. Like all scoffers he failed, at 
times, to distinguish the true from the false, and 
in his assaults upon the latter he often injured 
the former. He sometimes mistook the sub- 
stance for the shadow. In his warfare against 
its errors, he made the mistake of attacking the 
Church itself. 

Although Voltaire was a sceptic, he was not an 
atheist, but a most pronounced and impassioned 
deist. No one ever created so great a commo- 
tion and disturbance in the world's thought. He 
struck blow after blow, shattered idol after idol, 
and assailed with tremendous force the institu- 
tions of absolutism, intolera-nce, and bigotry. His 
struggle was to relieve man from the tyranny of 
arbitrary power, and to secure liberty of con- 
science from the thraldom of superstition. 

His career was one of peril and vicissitude; 
time and again he had to flee from France to 
avoid imprisonment. Confined in the Bastile for 
his treasonable utterances against kings, he yet 
enjoyed a close intimacy with Frederick the 
Great, the most arbitrary monarch in all Europe. 

He was one of the advance couriers of the 
174 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

Revolution; he had carried the news of its com- 
ing, but he did not hve to see it an established 
fact, his death occurring in 1778. Now, in 1791, 
it was proposed to honor his memory. " And why 
not," exclaimed Regnault de Saint Jean d'Angely. 
" It was he that held the torch of reason and en- 
abled mankind to see the chains that enthralled 
them." 
f At the time of Voltaire's death, his body was 
furtively removed by night from Paris and in- 
terred in the cemetery of the abbey of Sellieres, 
in Champagne, When this property was confis- 
cated by the State, the question arose at once as 
to what disposition should be made of the remains 
of the great philosopher, and it was decided that 
the capital of the nation, where he had breathed 
his last, was the only appropriate place for the 
interment of so illustrious a man. 

When his body reached Paris on the nth of 
July, 1 79 1, it was received at the barriers of the 
city by the authorities with the greatest solem- 
nity. The coffin was carried to the very spot 
where had stood the Bastile and was placed on a 
pedestal composed of the stones that had formed 
the foundations of that old dungeon. On this 
pedestal was the inscription : " Receive on this 
spot, where despotism once fettered thee, the 
honors decreed to thee by thy country." 

On the day of the funeral, all Paris was 
abroad; a vast concourse of people filled the 
streets, and every available space was occupied. 
The procession started in the morning and did 
not reach the Pantheon until far into, the night. 

175 



ROBESPIERRE 

The funeral car was drawn by twelve white 
horses, harnessed four abreast and held at the 
bridles by men dressed in antique costumes. The 
horses, it is said, were furnished by the queen. 

The procession was led by a large body of 
cavalry; then followed the muffled drums, which 
add so much solemnity to such an occasion, with 
a sombre, throbbing music all their own. Artil- 
lery boomed at regular intervals throughout the 
day. 

The sarcophagus was preceded, surrounded, 
and followed by the deputies of the National As- 
sembly. In the line of procession were the de- 
partmental and municipal bodies, officers of the 
army, learned associations, students of the col- 
leges, children of the schools, patriotic societies, 
military bands, regiments of regular soldiers, and 
the National Guard. Actors and actresses of the 
theatres were also in line to pay respect to the 
memory of the great dramatist. On a large 
pyramid, representing immortality, were inscribed 
the titles of his principal works, and the words: 
" He wrote * Irene ' at eighty-three and * OEd- 
ipus' at seventeen." 

His statue in gold was carried on the shoulders 
of citizens dressed in the costumes of different na- 
tions, while a golden casket contained the seventy 
volumes of his works. Busts of Rousseau and 
Mirabeau were also borne aloft. 

The funeral car stopped in front of the house 

of M. de Villette, where Voltaire died. The 

building was covered with festoons of flowers, 

and bore the inscription : " His fame is every- 

176 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

where, and his heart is here." Madame de Vil- 
lette, to whom Voltaire had been as a father, 
placed a wreath upon the coffin, and young girls 
dressed in white scattered flowers before the car, 
while the crowd sang in chorus one of Chenier's 
hymns. 

When the Pantheon was reached, the remains 
were carried into their last resting place in the 
presence of an uncovered multitude that showed 
its respect by a deep and reverent silence. His 
coffin was deposited between the bodies of Des- 
cartes and Mirabeau. Although the ceremony, 
in many of its features, was bombastic and theat- 
rical, yet taken as a whole it was most impres- 
sive; to comprehend its full meaning one must 
enter into the spirit of the times and the occasion. 

A few years before it had been difficult to 
find a decent place of sepulture for the great 
philosopher; the Church would not allow so im- 
pious a scoffer to lie in consecrated ground, and 
under cover of night he had been secretly interred 
in an obscure graveyard far distant from the cap- 
ital. Now the nation, rejoicing in its liberation, 
could not pay him, upon whom it looked as one 
of the authors of its freedom, homage equal to 
its sense of gratitude. With reverence, and with 
a ceremony both pompous and splendid, it con- 
veyed his ashes to a temple dedicated by a grate- 
ful people to the memory of great men : " Aiix 
Grands Homines La Patiie Rcconnaissantc." 

The Revolution was effecting marvelous 
changes, and, as we look through the lurid haze 
of that period, it seems like a phantasmagoria in 

12 177 



ROBESPIERRE 

which all the objects are distorted, all things are 
out of proportion. Declarations of rights, nobles 
fleeing for their lives, heads on pikes, abolition 
of titles, surrender of privileges, destruction of 
abuses, federations of universal brotherhood, 
riots, massacres, flight of the king, looting of 
palaces, factional struggles, fraternal embraces, 
fusillades, generosity, ferocity, love, hate, all the 
emotions and passions of the human heart in full 
play, make up the features and incidents in this 
the greatest drama of the world's history; yet 
amidst all this confusion the Revolution stopped 
long enough to pay homage to him who had 
prophesied it and in whose teachings it found its 
justification. 



178 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE ASSEMBLY DECREES THE INVIOLABILITY OF 

THE KING FUSILLADE OF THE CHAMP DE 

MARS ROBESPIERRE FINDS REFUGE IN THE 

HOUSE OF DUPLAY DUPORT BARNAVE 

CHARLES LAMETH. 

On the 15th of July, 1791, about three weeks 
after the return of Louis from Varennes, the As- 
sembly passed a decree declaring the person of the 
king inviolable. 

During the consideration of the question, 
Robespierre made a strong argument against the 
doctrine of the inviolability of the sovereign, and 
opposed most strenuously the passage of the act. 
He was listened to attentively, for his importance 
had greatly increased since the death of Mira- 
beau; but his efforts in this instance were with- 
out avail, for the Assembly carried the original 
motion by a heavy majority, and amidst great en- 
thusiasm. 

The measure was unwise and impolitic ; instead 
of strengthening the safeguards of the king, it 
imperiled the monarchy, for it provoked anew 
the wrath of the people. It seemed to be a direct 
rebuke to the sentiments and the principles of the 
Revolution. A declaration that the king's per- 
son was sacred and that he could do no wrong 

179 



ROBESPIERRE 

sounded like an echo of the ancient regime. The 
city at once became riotous and it required the 
best skill of La Fayette so to post the National 
Guards as to prevent an outbreak. 

In order that the people might have an op- 
portunity to express their views upon the ques- 
tion as to whether or not there should be a change 
in the form of government, it was decided by a 
committee of the Jacobins that a public meeting 
should be held on the Champ de Mars on Sunday, 
July 17th, for the signing of a petition by all 
those persons who favored the deposition of the 
king and the establishment of a republic. 

At the same time the authorities issued a proc- 
lamation against a gathering for a purpose so 
revolutionary in its character. 

On the day in question, men, women, and 
children assembled in holiday attire as if it were 
a festal occasion, evidently having no fear that 
the authorities would carry out their threats. 
And they had every reason to feel safe. The 
provisions of the riot act had been complied with 
to the letter. Twenty-four hours notice had 
been given to the authorities of the time and place 
of meeting, as well as an assurance that the peo- 
ple would be unarmed. 

A large platform had been erected in the centre 
of the field upon which stood what was called 
the altar of the country ; on this the petition was 
placed ready for the signatures of the people. 
Before the signing began, some one discovered 
under the platform two men — a barber and an 
old soldier with a wooden leg — who had bored 
180 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

holes in the floor of the platform through which 
they hoped to view the well-shaped limbs of the 
citoyennes. These Peeping Toms had made ar- 
rangements for a day's outing, a sort of picnic, 
and had brought with them provisions and a keg 
of water. When discovered, not being able to 
make any satisfactory excuse for their presence, 
they were at once seized, and carried before a 
magistrate. Unfortunately, while on their way 
to prison, they were cut down by an angry mob 
and their heads borne aloft on pikes. They were 
supposed to be royalists and it was thought that 
the keg contained gun powder to blow up the plat- 
form. 

. 'Bailly, the mayor, at once raised the red flag, 
then, proceeding to the Champ de Mars, he read 
the riot act and ordered the people to disperse. 
He was mocked, hooted at, and defied. La Fay- 
ette then brought his troops into line and opened 
fire, when the crowd soon took to its heels, leav- 
ing on the field a number of dead and wounded 
— how many no one can tell, for the authorities 
suppressed the facts and the radicals exaggerated 
them. 

/ This massacre was called the " Fusillade of the 
Champ de Mars." It lingered long in the mem- 
ory of the people and was avenged by them when 
La Fayette was driven into exile and Bailly was 
sent to the scaffold. 

Although another reaction favoring the king 

now set in, and although some of the popular 

leaders had to hide and flee for safety, yet from 

this event may be dated the real struggle be- 

i8i 



• t 



ROBESPIERRE 

tween the monarchy and democracy. When the 
counter reaction came, as it did very shortly, even 
moderates and conservatives were classed as roy- 
alists. There were then only two opposing 
forces, and the battle had to end either in the 
restoration of the monarchy or in the establish- 
ment of a republic. The conflict was directly 
between the people and the king. It was the , 
slaughter of innocent and unarmed citizens on', 
the Champ de Mars that intensified the bitterness 
and more clearly defined the issues, and it was 
this unfortunate episode that was made the ex- 
cuse for many of the subsequent excesses of the 
Revolution. 

It was some time before the radicals recovered 
from their surprise and repulse, and it did look 
for a while as if they were finally suppressed, 
but the fires were only smothered, not extin- 
guished. 

Notwithstanding the many interruptions that 
marked the course of the French Revolution, its 
progress can be clearly traced step by step. The 
reactions were but intervals; they delayed its 
march only temporarily ; they were merely breath- 
ing spells, for after each one the Revolution 
seemed to take on a fresh impulse, until at last 
its momentum made it irresistible and it swept 
to destruction everything in opposition to its 
progress. 

It was while Robespierre was hurrying from 
the Champ de Mars, after the massacre, that he 
found refuge in the dwelling of the carpenter, 
Duplay, in the rue St. Honore. 

182 




BARN AVE 
From an engraving in the collection of William J. Latta, Esq. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

Robespierre's sister Charlotte, in referring to 
this incident, says that while her brother was on 
his way home from the Field of Mars he was 
recognized and cheered by a crowd of enthusiastic 
admirers in front of the Church of the Assump- 
tion ; that at this moment Duplay came out of his 
shop, and, seeing the embarrassment of Robes- 
pierre, invited him to take shelter in his home. 
The invitation was accepted and the hospitality 
of a night resulted in making this temporary ref- 
uge a permanent residence. 

It is said that Madame Roland and her husband 
had so great an interest in Robespierre's welfare 
that they went to his lodgings in the Marais at 
eleven o'clock at night, to offer their house as an 
asylum. 

The Assembly honored La Fayette with a vote 
of thanks and endorsed the action of the authori- 
ties. The instigators of the meeting were pur- 
sued with warrants of arrest. Marat disap- 
peared from public view, and Danton fled to 
England. Robespierre, who had been most ac- 
tive in making preparations for the holding of the 
meeting, was not interfered with; Madame 
Roland had enlisted the influence of Buzot in 
his behalf, and he was thus protected from nrose- 
cution. 

It was at this time that Duport, Barnave, the 
Lameths, Sieyes, and La Fayette withdrew from 
the Jacobins and organized the club of the Feuil- 
lants. Instead of closing the clubs that were in 
existence, they opened a new one, and thus added 
another factor of contention. 

183 



ROBESPIERRE 

This group of men, conservatives by nature, 
education, and association, startled by the havoc 
they had w^rought, would fain have retraced their 
steps, but it w^as too late; they had gone too far. 
They unconsciously aided in destroying the mon- 
archy M^hich they had intended only to reform. 

Adrien Duport, the recognized leader of the 
new^ faction, had the attributes of the practical 
politician. He saw in the Revolution a great op- 
portunity for his peculiar talents and he espoused 
the popular cause with zeal. Fond of intrigue, 
possessed of great executive and organizing abil- 
ity, he had all the qualities that specially fitted 
him for party leadership. At first a most pro- 
nounced radical, he moderated his views when 
the Revolution grew too violent and sought to 
check its course, but he soon found out that it was 
much easier to start a conflagration than to ex- 
tinguish it. Just before the September massacres 
he was thrown into prison, but was saved from 
assassination by the courage and the generosity 
of Danton. 

Antoine Joseph Pierre Marie Barnave, deputy 
from Grenoble, who charmed the States-General 
and the National Assembly with his surpassing 
eloquence and who dared to grapple in debate 
even with the redoubtable Mirabeau, was a law- 
yer of renown in his province and of natural 
ability so great that it did not lose its lustre even 
in the capital. " He is a tree growing," said 
Mirabeau, " to become some day the mast of a 
line-of-battle ship." Etienne Dumont, who evi- 
dently did not like Barnave, describes him as ir- 
184 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

ritable, jealous, ill-tempered, and presumptuous, 
but admits that his talents in debate were pow- 
erful and that his development as a parliamentary 
leader was most rapid. 

Robespierre was never on friendly terms with 
Barnave, for the latter looked with contempt on 
the early efforts of the former to impress the 
Assembly with his feeble oratory, and the de- 
rision of Barnave more than once so aroused the 
anger and wounded the vanity of Robespierre 
that the breach between them could never be 
healed. 

Barnave had been very carefully educated, 
was a scholar of broad culture, and a man of 
the finest sensibilities. 

Although rather small in stature, he was of 
good figure, and his face was expressive and 
marked with intelligence. 

He early espoused the principles of the pop- 
ular cause and was outspoken in his denunciation 
of the abuses and the extravagance of the old 
regime. He boldly took the oath of the Tennis 
Court, favored the promulgation of the Declara- 
tion of the Rights of Man, and voted for the 
abolition of religious orders. His pronounced 
radicalism provoked the wrath of the royalists, 
and he was in consequence called several times 
to the field of honor. 

As time ran on and as the violence of the 
Revolution increased, he moderated his views. 
Although from the first a radical reformer, he 
had always been a monarchist; it was his desire 
not to destroy the throne but to restrict its power. 

185 



ROBESPIERRE 

He was too emotional and susceptible to be a 
great revolutionary leader. Brave, chivalrous, 
and sympathetic, his heart, at last, was touched 
with pity for the distresses of the queen; he es- 
poused her cause, and for his disloyalty to the 
Revolution paid forfeit with his head. 

The Lameths were three brothers: Theodore, 
Charles, and Alexandre. It was the last named 
that declined the honor of dancing with the queen 
at the final ball given at Versailles, for fear his ac- 
ceptance of the distinction might lower him in 
the estimation of the radicals. 

Charles was the most important and distin- 
guished of the trio. He had fought with Ro- 
chambeau in America, and was wounded at 
Yorktown. In his heart was instilled a love of 
freedom, influenced in a great measure, no doubt, 
by his experience in the new world. 

He had been left an orphan at an early age 
and Marie Antoinette adopted him as her foster 
son; his mother, a sister of Marshal de Broglie, 
having on her death-bed committed him and his 
brothers to the special favor and protection of 
the queen. 

Upon his return from America, he was received 
at court with every mark of respect. He was 
admitted to the exclusive Trianon set, the queen 
showering honors upon him with a lavish hand, 
and he was appointed colonel of the royal cuir- 
assiers. He was in reality a pampered child of 
royalty, living on the king's bounty. Every ave- 
nue to preferment was open to him, and he 
proudly stood as the representative of one of 
i86 




(H ARI.es I)E lameth 
rroiii an engravint; in tlie collection of William T. Latta. Esq. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

the most aristocratic families in France. Such 
a man, one would suppose, had the queen been 
in danger, would have rushed to her side and 
would willingly have risked his life in her de- 
fence. A mere insult to her should have aroused 
all the chivalry in his nature. He should have 
had for her almost the affection of a son for a 
mother; surely he was under obligations to the 
woman who had sheltered his orphanage and to 
whom he was indebted for his education and 
subsequent promotions. There was no one in the 
whole realm who should more quickly have 
plucked his sword from its scabbard in defence 
of the queen's life and honor than Count Charles 
de Lameth. But when the Revolution came, it 
found him organizing a political party in opposi- \ 
tion to the court; he became one of the most\ 
pronounced revolutionists of that day, and a lead-; 
ing member of the Jacobins. 

His violent radicalism, of course, provoked the 
enmity of the royalists, and he was challenged 
to a duel by the Duke de Castries, in which he 
was severely wounded. So great was his pop- 
ularity at this time, that the rabble was easily 
incited to attack the duke's residence; although 
no lives were lost, the furniture was broken, and 
many works of art were destroyed and thrown 
into the street, an illustration of the petty ven- 
geance of the mob, and proof of how well or- 
ganized were the elements and forces of insur- 
rection, for their conduct in this instance was 
unquestionably instigated by the popular leaders. 

La Fayette, with a detachment of the National 
187 



ROBESPIERRE 

Guard, arrived on the scene too late to prevent 
the destruction or to render any service, and 
simply stood by and watched the burning of the 
rubbish. Madame de Castries afterwards wit- 
tily and sarcastically remarked that she felt highly 
honored in having the general present to witness 
the sacking of her home. 

In view of the kind and generous treatment 
he had received at the hands of the queen, the 
conduct of Lameth during the Revolution showed 
not only base ingratitude, but was closely akin to 
treason. It is almost impossible to believe that 
the most rabid revolutionist could have had 
respect for such an ally ; men may use the traitor, 
but they despise the treason. They may con- 
spire with the ingrate, but they never can forget 
nor forgive ingratitude. He and Robespierre 
were at one time on friendly terms, but they grew 
to be political rivals and bitter enemies. 

The Revolution carried Lameth far out of his 
course, and he gladly would have retraced his 
steps; but it was too late. Frightened at the 
violence he had helped to create, he did all in 
his power to allay it; but he was unable to ac- 
complish anything in that direction. With a 
number of moderates he organized a conservative 
club, through the influence of which they tried 
to temper public sentiment; but the current 
against them was too strong to stem, and they 
might as well have attempted to dam the Nile 
with bulrushes. 

No one would find fault with his conduct had 
he been a moderate reformer, that is, had he fa- 
i88 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

vored the destruction of the flagrant abuses that 
had existed under the old regime; but to become 
so fierce a radical and to take a stand so antag- 
onistic to the court, after having indulged in its 
frivolities and enjoyed its patronage, displayed 
a disposition almost unnatural. He even w^ent so 
far as to excuse the conduct of the mob in the 
sacking of the palace at Versailles, the palace of 
that queen who had tenderly and affectionately 
nurtured and sheltered his youth. 



189 



CHAPTER XV 

JOURNALISM AND JOURNALISTS THE CAFES 

THE GUIGNETTES gA IRA CARMAGNOLE 

There is nothing that shows the progress of the 
Revolution more than the unrestrained Hcense in 
which the Press indulged. Every safeguard for 
the protection of private and public reputation 
was broken down, and the newspapers carried 
their abuse far beyond the limits of law and de- 
cency. This was natural, perhaps, under the cir- 
cumstances, for the passing events were stirring; 
men's minds were wrought up to a pitch of in- 
tense excitement, and the struggle from the very 
beginning was one of terrific bitterness. 

The newspapers represented every phase of pub- 
lic opinion. Many of them were party organs, 
and in them the leading politicians and statesmen 
expressed their views on pending questions. It 
was through the columns of the " Courrier de 
Provence " that Mirabeau spoke in thunder tones 
to his constituents. The '' Point du Jour " was 
the mouthpiece of Barere. 

In May, 1792, Robespierre started a journal 
called " La Defenseur de la Constitution," and it 
was in this paper that he gave his views in rela- 
tion to the war, for his popularity had been some- 
what affected because of his persistent opposition 
to its declaration. 

190 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

By all odds the greatest journalist of the Revo- 
lution, however, was Camille Desmoulins. As 
a satirist he was incomparable, his ridicule of 
public men would set all Paris laughing. His 
literary style was of so high an order that it 
really ranks him among the great writers of 
France. As the editor of the " Discours de la 
Lanterne" the "Revolutions de Brabant" and 
the " Old Cordelier/' he exerted a powerful in- 
fluence. He had the courage of his convictions, 
and had no hesitation in boldly expressing his 
views. His celebrated " Histoire des Brissotins 
et Brissot devoile " led the way to the accusation 
and condemnation of the Girondins. 

Marat's "Ami du Peuple" was a journal of 
a ** yellow" type; abusive, ferocious, and san- 
guinary. Woe to the man who fell under the 
suspicion of its rabid editor. After the deposi- 
tion of thie king his paper was called the " Jour- 
nal de la Repuhlique Frangaise." 

No matter what else may be said of him, 
Marat was no sham ; ^ there was a rugged, savage 
honesty about him that induces, from every fair 
man, some sort of respect. He never bent the 
knee nor " burnt incense before the idols of 
power," 

It is well known that the royalist journals 
were subsidized, and that a corruption fund was 
created to bribe the Jacobin leaders and journal- 
ists ; in fact, Montmorin is said to have admitted 
that he had spent many millions in purchasing 
radical orators and editors, but there was none 

1 See " Danton and the French Revolution," p. 55. 
191 



ROBESPIERRE 

among all the revolutionists whose influence or 
even silence would have been worth so much to 
the monarchy as Marat's. It goes without say- 
ing, however, that no amount of money would 
have been a temptation to him; his poverty was 
squalid, abject. When he died his estate con- 
sisted, in cash, of one franc, and yet in his life- 
time he could have sold his pen for a fortune, 

" Pere Duchesne," edited by Hebert and Chau- 
mette, reeked with filth. There is not a com- 
munity in all Christendom, at this time, that 
would tolerate for a day the publication of so 
vile a sheet; it pandered to the lowest tastes, be- 
ing smutty, irreverent, and atheistic. It was 
rather a pamphlet than a newspaper, the price 
was fifty sous a month, and from a financial point 
of view it was one of the most successful publica- 
tions of that period. 

Jacques Rene Hebert, the editor of this vile 
sheet, was born in Alengon, but came to Paris 
some time before the Revolution. He was em- 
ployed as ticket seller or check taker at a theatre, 
and was dismissed for dishonesty; he afterwards 
entered the service of a physician whom he 
robbed. Knocked from pillar to post and living 
from hand to mouth, he eked out a precarious ex- 
istence until, at last, he found a field for his pe- 
culiar activity in the exciting scenes of the Revo- 
lution. 

He was a coarse, vulgar creature, and at heart 
a craven. At the queen's trial he cast an impu- 
tation upon her of so atrocious a nature that he 
disgusted even the common women of the slums, 
192 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

and brought down upon his head the bitter de- 
nunciation of Robespierre. 

The influence of Hebert in every direction was 
most fatal and pernicious, especially when he was 
made the chief of a political party. So violent 
did his paper become in its rantings, that he and 
the leaders of his faction were openly charged 
by the more conservative revolutionists with be- 
ing agents of England, in the pay of Pitt, for 
the purpose of destroying the Republic by driv- 
ing it to excess and anarchy. 

He was accused and condemned in 1794, and 
when he went to execution he was so overcome 
by fear that he fainted several times in the tum- 
bril before reaching the scaffold. 

Pierre Gaspard Chaumette, who was associated 
with Hebert in the publication of " Pere Dii- 
chesne," was born at Nevers, in 1763. His father 
Vv^as a shoemaker who could not afford to give 
him any educational advantages, and the boy was 
compelled to start out early in life to make his 
way in the world. He was for a time an attor- 
ney's clerk in Paris, and while in this position 
acquired some little knowledge of the law; he 
subsequently received a short training in jour- 
nalism under Prudhomme, who pronounced him 
an ignorant fellow. 

He was not so coarse as Hebert, but he was 
just as radical and as extravagant in his notions. 
These two men endeavored " to dethrone the king 
of heaven as well as the kings of the earth." to 
abolish religion, and to destroy every sign and 
symbol of the Christian faith. They helped to 

13 193 



ROBESPIERRE 

organize the " Festivals of Reason," and polluted 
with their silly profanations many of the churches 
in Paris. 

In their view marriage was a mere agree- 
ment, its duration to be measured by the pleasure 
and determination of the contracting parties, to 
be entered into and annulled with no special form 
or ceremony. Morals, of course, were lax when 
the restraints of religion were removed; but un- 
der the influence of teachings so vile in regard 
to marriage, they grew worse and worse, and 
concubinage became almost a general custom. In 
the first three months of 1792, there were re- 
corded in Paris 562 divorces and only 1,785 mar- 
riages. To meet this condition, unparalleled in 
modern society, the Convention decreed that 
bastards should be entitled to an equal share with , 
legitimate children in succession and in the dis-' 
tribution of estates. 

In no wise daunted by adverse criticism, the 
editors did not temper their style or utterance, 
and with every issue of the filthy sheet seemed 
to grow more violent. When the hawkers were 
selling the paper on the streets, their usual cry 
was, in order to attract the attention of pas- 
sers-by : " II est hougrement en colere, le Pere 
Duchesne " — " Father Duchesne is in a thunder- 
ing passion." 

The original " Fere Duchesne " was a charac- 
ter created by Lemaire and represented an old 
soldier, rough and crabbed, who smoked his pipe 
and went about expressing his views on public 
questions and growling at men and measures. 
194 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

Hebert's " Fere " was a clumsy imitation of the 
original. 

"La Chronique de Paris," edited by Condor- 
cet, an aristocrat by birth, and a democrat by con- 
viction, was most philosophical in its tone. 

Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas Caritat, Marquis 
de Condorcet, was born in Picardy, in 1743. The 
family was ancient in origin and honorable in 
reputation. The boy was educated with great 
care at the College of the Jesuits in Rheims and 
at the College of Navarre in Paris. 

He early gained distinction by the publication 
of a treatise on integral calculus, which attracted 
the attention of the learned men throughout the 
kingdom. He soon, however, entered the 
broader fields of literature and published the life 
of Turgot and the life of Voltaire, which latter 
met with great success. 

_^ Under a cold exterior, Condorcet concealed the 
most violent passions. He contributed several 
articles to the Encyclopedia, and D'Alembert, 
who knew him well, compared him to a volcano 
covered with snow. 

Another writer described him as " a sheep in a 
passion." Madame Roland in speaking of hirti 
said : "His intelligence in relation to his person 
is a subtle essence soaked in cotton." 

When the political tempest which had long 
been gathering over France finally broke, Con- 
dorcet gave his loyal support to the revolutionists 
and his pen was busy in advocating the principles 
of the new order. 

From the very beginning he took a great dis- 
195 



ROBESPIERRE 

like to Robespierre, looking upon him as a man 
of mere words and without talent. Plain, logi- 
cal, and practical himself, he had no patience with 
the persistent talking of Robespierre in the As- 
sembly. 

( At the king's trial, Condorcet voted for an 
appeal to the people. After the fall of the Giron- 
dins he was outlawed and had to flee for his life. 
Through the influence of some friends he found 
an asylum in the house of a Madame Vernet. 
Here he employed his leisure in finishing a work 
upon which he was engaged at the time of his 
proscription. Fearing, however, that he was put- 
ting the safety of his generous hostess in jeop- 
ardy, he made up his mind to find another place 
of refuge. " I am outlawed," he said to her, 
" and if I am discovered here you no doubt will 
share my fate." Madame Vernet, with a mag- 
nanimity that was truly heroic, answered : " La 
Convention, Monsieur, a le droit de mettre, hors 
da lo'i, elle n'a pas le pouvoir de mettre hors de 
I'humanite; voiis resterez" — " The Convention, 
Sir, has the right to place you outside of the 
law ; it has not the power to place you outside of 
humanity; you will remain." 

Watching his opportunity, however, he es- 
caped, and having been turned from the door 
of an old friend under whose roof he sought a 
night's lodging, he had to hide in the thickets 
and stone quarries of Clamart. Weary, hungry, 
foot-sore, and with garments tattered and torn, 
he came to the village, entered a tavern, and 
called for food. " Bring me an omelette," he 
ig6 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

said. " How many eggs in your omelette? " was 
asked. "A dozen." "A dozen!" cried the 
landlady in surprise. " What is your trade ? " 
"A carpenter," " O, no!" said the astonished 
landlady. " Carpenters have not hands like 
yours and they do not ask for a dozen eggs in an 
omelette." 

It was soon noised about that an aristocrat in 
disguise had taken refuge in the inn. The vil- 
lagers gathered at once and when Condorcet was 
searched it was discovered he had no " carte de 
surete," but in his pocket was found a much- 
thumbed copy of Horace. He was seized and 
bound, haled before a magistrate and committed 
to prison. 

When the gaolers came to his cell in the morn- 
ing, they found him dead. Whether it was from 
exhaustion or from poison is an unsolved ques- 
tion. 

Jean Louis Carra, the friend of Danton, a 
journalist of no mean ability and a demagogue 
from policy and principle, edited a paper called 
" Annales Fatriotique/' There was no restraint 
placed upon the expression of its ultra views; it 
was revolutionary to the core. 

Stanislas Louis Marie Freron, in his '' Ora- 
teur du Peuple," was as vituperative as Marat, 
but without his originality and fanatical convic- 
tions. 

Freron was only twenty-two years of age at 

the opening of the Revolution, but he had already 

served an apprenticeship in journalism under the 

tuition of his father, who had published a period* 

197 



ROBESPIERRE 

ical entitled " L'Annee Litteraire." The first 
edition of the younger Freron's paper, when he 
entered the Hsts as a revolutionary editor, boldly 
declared war against the aristocrats of every age, 
sex, and condition. He naively stated that he 
was in sound health, possessed of good spirits and 
had been assured by his mother that he had a 
pretty and a nimble wit. Freron was utterly 
without principle, but his paper, nevertheless, ex- 
erted considerable influence. Justin McCarthy 
declares that he but parodied the flashes of Ca- 
mille's wit and aped the scowl of Marat. 

Claude Fauchet published the " Bouche de 
Fer." 

The '' Journal des Jacobins " disseminated 
broadcast the views of the revolutionary clubs. 
It was edited and published by Laclos. 

Brissot, the leader of the Girondins, was the 
editor of the " Patriot Franqais." 

The "Journal Logographique," and later the 
" Logotachgraphe" which lasted for a short 
time, suspending its publication in May, 1793, 
claimed to give the fullest and most accurate 
reports of the speeches delivered in the Conven- 
tion. 

The " Moniteur" also gave in detail the de- 
bates and parliamentary proceedings. It was one 
of the leading papers of that period, had an ex- 
tensive circulation and was published by Panc- 
koucke, a prototype of the enterprising newspa- 
per proprietor of to-day. He owned several 
journals, and conducted them successfully and 
profitably. 

198 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

It is in the columns of the " Moniteur " that 
many of the famous speeches of the distinguished 
orators of the Revolution have been preserved. 
Most of the speakers wrote their speeches and 
carefully revised them for the press. This was 
fortunate, for otherwise they would not have 
been adequately reported. The shorthand writ- 
ers in those times were not as expert as the ste- 
nographers of the present day. 

Danton's speeches were delivered on the spur 
of the moment ; they were outbursts, and one can 
readily see in reading them that he spoke rapidly 
and in consequence must have been very hard to 
report. No doubt much that he said has never 
reached us, for he went to no pains to revise his 
speeches for publication. 

Vergniaud and the other distinguished ora- 
tors, on the other hand, took the greatest care in 
writing their speeches, and revised them even 
after their delivery. Robespierre especially was 
particular in these matters, and many of his 
speeches have come down to us through the 
"Moniteur" almost word for word. 

Robespierre was just the sort of man to keep 
himself prominently in the public eye by means 
of the newspapers, and he was careful to see 
that his speechea were reported in full and ver- 
batim. 

Billaud-Varennes, whose boast was that he 

himself was not an orator, sneered at the desire 

of Robespierre to appear so constantly in public 

print, and attributed it to his excessive vanity. 

As, was- said by Mirabeau of La Fayette, so may 
199 



ROBESPIERRE 

it be said of Robespierre : " He loved the glory 
of gazettes." 

^o counteract the influence of the revolution- 
ary journals, the royalists at an early day entered 
the field; but they made no impression on the 
public mind. In their efforts to save the monarchy 
they did not support their views with serious 
argument, but spent their time and wasted their 
opportunities in ridiculing the " antics " of the 
Convention, exaggerating the mistakes of the 
radicals, and personally abusing the opponents of 
royalty. Scurrility and ridicule took the place 
of logic and wit. 

The royalist journals, ''Ami du Roi" and the 
"" Actes des Apotres," edited respectively by 
Royon and Rivarol, were at first very bitter in 
tone; but as the violence of the Revolution in- 
creased they moderated the expression of their 
views and finally ceased publication. 

Sulean was about the most vituperative writer 
in the royalistic class. As already told, he was 
killed by the well-known courtezan, Theroig^e 
de Mericourt, on the loth of August, 1792, 
while on his way to the Tuileries with a band of 
confederates to aid the king. 

We have named but a few, a very few, compar- 
atively, of the editors and newspapers of that 
period. It was a day of journalism ; the transpir- 
ing events were sudden, startling and interesting, 
and everybody was anxious to keep informed on 
the history of current changes and transactions. 
" Newspapers were everywhere," says Hugo ; 
" wig-makers curled women's wigs in public while 
200 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

the master read the ' Moniteur' aloud." It was 
through the papers that the people were taught 
the purposes and the principles of the Revolution. 
The teachings of Voltaire instead of being only 
the philosophy of the salons now became as well 
the gospel of the slums. 

There grew into favor a custom of publishing 
" Journanx dfiches," which were posted on walls 
and fences and around which groups of people 
gathered and discussed the contents; thus those 
who were unable to read or could not purchase 
papers were informed of the news. Wandering 
orators hired by the clubs would mount im- 
provised rostrums and address on the topics of 
the day the crowds assembled around the posters. 
These were missionaries sent out by the College 
of the Propaganda of the Revolution to teach 
the principles of the new order and they scat- 
tered broadcast the seeds of sedition. 

One young, enthusiastic revolutionist, named 
Varley, dragged a kind of pulpit about with him 
so as to harangue the people in the public gar- 
dens and at the street corners. 

The coffee houses were great centres for the 
dissemination of news. In fact, as says Gon- 
court, they became the vocal press of the Revolu- 
tion. There were more than six hundred of 
them in Paris at the beginning of the reign of 
Louis XVI, and they greatly increased in num- 
ber as time progressed, especially after the fall 
of the Bastile. The Palais Royal was filled with 
them and this locality became the common resort 
of the people. Here all public questions were 



ROBESPIERRE 

argued and considered. Rumors filled the air, 
and the latest news, whether from the provinces 
or the seat of war, was announced and put in cir- 
culation. The cafes, in a great measure, sup- 
planted the wine shops and the tap-rooms, and 
were frequented by women as well as by men. 
The citoyennes, in high plaited caps adorned 
with the national cockade, came in the afternoon 
with their husbands and friends to take a cup 
of coffee, to gossip, and to hear the news. It 
was in the evening, however, that the Palais 
Royal presented the most animated scene. Gas 
and electric lights were, of course, wanting, but 
there was no economy in the use of candles and 
lamps, and they made a brave showing, for from 
every shop window as well as from every cafe 
poured a flood of light. 

In the crowds could be seen the broad-rimmed, 
high-crowned hats of the fops or "' Muscadins," 
the large black three-cornered hats of the Na- 
tional Guards, and the conspicuous red caps of 
the Sans Culottes, that resembled poppies in a 
field of stubble. There, too, could be seen, min- 
gling in the crowds, strolling through the gardens, 
or taking refreshment at the tables with gay com- 
panions, the ladies from the maisons de joie — 
priestesses of Aphrodite. They wore high- 
crowned white and yellow straw hats with wav- 
ing feathers, low-cut, tight-fitting dresses of 
bright colors, and broad tricolored belts made of 
silk ribbon. They carried large fans, which they 
gracefully used and, when occasion offered, han- 
dled most coquettishly. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

There was very little drunkenness in the cafes; 
in many of them only coffee and mild drinks were 
served. Later in the Revolution, when coffee 
was scarce and dear, the true Jacobin, whose 
virtue was to indulge in no extravagance, would 
call for a glass of water and a newspaper. In 
many of the cafes, chess, draughts, dominoes, and 
billiards were the amusements. Each cafe had 
its political color and its particular patrons. The 
proprietors were, as a rule, well-known men, and 
several of them rose to distinction. 

The Jacobins, the Dantonists, the Robespierre- 
ists, the Girondins, the Hebertists, the reaction- 
ists — all had their special cafes. These places 
were the storm centres of the Revolution. 

Robespierre was not a public-garden or street- 
corner orator ; he had not the voice nor the pres- 
ence to impress an out-door crowd. In imagi- 
nation we may see him strolling through the gar- 
dens, sipping his coffee at a cafe, listening to the 
furious harangues of the speakers, preserving at 
all times his serious dignity, and conspicuous 
everywhere because of his aristocratic manner 
and dress. 

After the execution of the Girondins, the mod- 
erates were timid and all except the most cour- 
ageous avoided public expression and discussion 
of political topics. 

During the " Reign of Terror," the Commit- 
tee of General Safety employed a crowd of husky 
rowdies armed with stout sticks, "^ les tapes durs," 
to pick quarrels with the reactionaries who ex- 
pressed their views too plainly in public; and in 
203 



ROBESPIERRE 

consequence brawls and hand-to-hand fights were 
of frequent occurrence. Occasionally, a person 
who declared sentiments not in sympathy with 
public opinion would be ducked in the fountain 
of the Palais Royal, amidst the jeers and the 
laughter of the crowd. 

Although the cafes had become the most pop- 
ular resorts, the taverns and wine-shops still flour- 
ished in many localities, but were frequented and 
patronized by the rougher and coarser elements 
of the community. 

The guignette was the precursor of the modern 
music hall and was a cafe, a wine-shop, and a 
vaudeville show combined. Refreshments were 
served on long wooden tables, which, in many 
instances, were arranged under canvas tents. In 
the centre of the tent was erected a platform or 
stage for the singers and dancers. An orches- 
tra, consisting of two, three, or four musicians, 
would accompany the performers, and enliven the 
intervals between songs and dances by playing 
popular and patriotic airs. 

In the suburbs of Paris there were some guig- 
nettes that were veritable rustic bowers, embos- 
omed and sheltered in the woods; these places 
were called courtilles to distinguish them from 
the urban guignettes, the word courtille meaning 
a small garden or grove. Here wild scenes were 
often witnessed, and the audience wrought up to 
excitement and enthusiasm by liquor and patriotic 
fervor would join in the chorus or even take part 
in the dance. 

Marie Antoinette is said to have visited by 
204 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

night one of these gay resorts, accompanied by 
her brother-in-law, the Count d'Artois. Al- 
though in disguise, the queen, was early recog- 
nized ; but the people present were polite and con- 
siderate enough to refrain from annoying her, al- 
though they in nowise abated their revels. She 
declared afterwards that it was one of the most 
delightful experiences of her life. 

Popular music had a great influence upon the 
public in France during the stirring scenes of the 
Revolution. The French are an excitable, emo- 
tional people, easily aroused to action and spe- 
cially susceptible to the influence of song. It 
was a wise man who said : " Let me write the 
songs of a people and I care not who makes the 
laws." There is more meaning in this expres- 
sion than at first appears. 

The two most popular songs of the French 
Revolution were the " Qa ira " and the " Car- 
magnole." The " Marseillaise/' of course, was 
in a higher class than these, becoming in time 
the national hymn; but we are now referring 
particularly to the street songs. 

The origin of the phrase " C^a ira/' as the title 
to one of the great revolutionary songs, is of 
peculiar interest, especially to Americans. 

When Benjamin Franklin was an ambassador 
to the Court of France, he was most popular 
among all classes in Paris from the proletariat to 
royalty itself, and everything the old philosopher 
said was taken up and repeated until at last it 
passed current through the whole realm. He 
was constantly asked the question : " How pro- 
20!; 



ROBESPIERRE 

ceeds the war with England ? " and his answer 
almost invariably was : " Qa ira " — " It will go." 
The phrase came into popular use and in time 
was adopted as the name of the fiercest Jacobin- 
istic song of the Revolution. It was the battle 
cry of the rabble. 

"Ah! ga ira, ga ira, ga ira! 
La Liberie s'etablira 
Malgre des tyrans; tout reussira." ^ 

The " Carmagnole," another revolutionary 
song and dance, took its name from a long- 
sleeved waistcoat worn by the laboring people. 
This garment was so universally used by this 
class of citizens that in time its name was adopted 
as a distinguishing designation for a fierce Jac- 
obin. 

The English referred contemptuously to the 
French troops as Carmagnoles. 

The verses were mere doggerel, but the song 
had a rollicking air and the dance was so ener- 
getic in character that it aroused the emotions 
and passions to such a degree that under its in- 
fluence men would get almost into a frenzy. It 
had the same effect upon a mob of Jacobins that 
a war dance would have upon a band of wild 
Apaches. Mercier aptly describes it as " a whirl- 
blast of rags, precursor of storm and destruc- 
tion." 

One of the most popular verses of the song re- 

1 " Ah ! It will succeed ; it will succeed ! 
Liberty will be established 
In spite of tyrants ; all will prosper." 
206 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

lated to the queen, and this will give an idea of 
its general style and metre: 

"Madame Veto avait promts 
De faire egorger tout Paris 
Mais le coup a manque 
Grace a nos cannoniers. 
Dansons la Carmagnole, 
Vive le son, vive le son! 
Dansons la Carmagnole, 
Vive le son du cannon!"''- 

The song grew to a great length as the Revo- 
lution advanced, for every event or incident 
brought forth a new stanza. 

In one of Barere's reports on the army of Italy, 
he describes an attack made by the Piedmontese 
on the outposts of the French, and says that the 
Sans Culottes — he thus refers to the French 
troops — so despised the slaves of Piedmont that 
a company of scouts marched against them with 
their guns slung over their shoulders, dancing the 
Carmagnole. The report goes on to say that the 
Piedmontese were so frightened at this manner 
of attack that they precipitately took to their heels 
and left the French victors of the field. 

1 Madame Veto had promised 
To slaughter all Paris, 
But the blow miscarried 
Thanks to our cannoneers. 
Let us dance the Carmagnole, 
Long live the sound of cannon ! 
Let us dance the Carmagnole, 
Long live the sound of cannon ! 



207 



CHAPTER XVI 

REVISION OF THE CONSTITUTION — ROBESPIERRE 
URGES THE IMMEDIATE ADOPTION OF THE CON- 
STITUTION THE CONSTITUTION ADOPTED 

ROBESPIERRE RETURNS TO ARRAS AND IS GIVEN 

AN OVATION THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 

CONVOKED THE GIRONDINS BRISSOT 

VERGNIAUD GENSONNE GUADET IS- 

NARD ORATORY IN FRANCE 

On August 5, 1791, the Assembly began the 
final revision of the Constitution, With the king 
a captive, the nobility scattered, the Church with- 
out influence, the radicals and the conservatives 
both in favor of restricting the king's power, it 
seems as if the work incident to the building of 
a constitution ought to have proceeded without 
the angry contention that accompanied it. Polit- 
ical parties and the struggle among them for su- 
premacy provoked the bitterness. 

The National Assembly was drawing to a 
close ; its labors were nearly completed ; the vow 
taken by the deputies at the Tennis Court was 
about being fulfilled. It had been a remarkable 
congress; its roster held some of the most dis- 
tinguished names in the history of France; it 
had revolutionized the nation, had destroyed the 
obnoxious features of the ancient regime, and 
208 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

was about to place the monarchy which had here- 
tofore been absolute upon a constitutional, basis. 

Many of the men who were radicals at the be- 
ginning of the Revolution had moderated- their 
views, either seduced by the court, or their con- 
fidence in popular government shaken, by the vio- 
lence of the mob; but this accession to the ranks 
of the conservatives had no appreciable effect 
upon the political situation; in fact, it only in- 
creased the contention and bitterness between the 
factions. 

Robespierre struck many a blow in the forging 
of the Constitution and combated at every turn 
and with every weapon at hand the triumvirate of 
Duport, Barnave, and Lameth, and the motions 
of those revisionists who were determined to save 
as much of the royal power as was possible. 

When the question arose as to whether or not 
the adoption of the Constitution should be sub- 
mitted to a popular vote, Robespierre argued that 
the people had reposed their power in the dele- 
gates and to ask them to sanction the work of 
the Convention was to presume they had no con- 
fidence in the judgment of their representatives. 
" Let us not," he exclaimed, " delay the settle- 
ment of this matter by a referendum, but relieve 
the suspense and anxiety of the country by the 
immediate adoption of the Constitution." 

As to its acceptance by the king he said : " Be- 
hold us, then, arrived at the end of our long and 
painful career ; it remains only for us to give the 
Constitution stability and duration. Why are we 

asked to submit it to the acceptance of the king? 
14 209 



ROBESPIERRE 

Its fate is independent of the will of Louis XVI. 
I do not doubt he will accept it with delight. An 
empire for patrimony, all the attributes of the 
executive power, forty millions for his personal 
pleasures — such is our offer ! Do not let us 
wait before we offer it until he be away from 
the capital and environed by ill-advisers. Let us 
offer it to him in Paris. Let us say to him : 
' Behold the most powerful throne in the universe 
— will you accept it ? ' Suspected gatherings, 
the system of weakening your frontiers, threats 
of your enemies without, manoeuvres of your 
enemies within — all warn you to hasten the es- 
tablishment of an order of things which assures 
and fortifies the citizens. If we deliberate when 
we should swear, if our Constitution may be again 
attacked, after having been already twice assailed, 
what remains for us to do? Either to resume 
our arms or our fetters." Then, looking towards 
the seats of Barnave and the Lameths, he added : 
" We have been empowered to constitute the na- 
tion and not to raise the fortunes of certain in- 
dividuals in order to favor the coalition of court 
intriguers, and to assure to them the price of 
their complaisance or their treason." 

The king, when informed that the Constitution 
had been adopted, insisted upon appearing before 
the Assembly and publicly accepting its provi- 
sions. " I come," he said, " into your midst sol- 
emnly to consecrate myself to the Constitutional 
act, and I swear to be faithful to the nation and 
the law, to maintain the Constitution and to carry 
its decrees into effect ! " /J 

2IO 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

The Assembly stood while the king made this 
impressive vow, and when he returned to the 
Tuileries the deputies accompanied him. The 
procession passed through throngs of excited and 
exultant people. Cheers for the king and even 
cries of " Long live the queen " rent the air, 
while salvos of artillery announced to the world 
the glad event. 

The closing of the stormy sessions of the As- 
sembly and the universal acceptance of the Con- 
stitution seemed to mark the opening of a new 
era in the history of France. 

The returning delegates were received with 
open arms by their constituents. Robespierre, 
upon his arrival at Arras, was welcomed like a 
conqueror, the National Guard upon his entrance 
acting as an escort of honor ; there was a general 
illumination ; he was accorded a public reception, 
was crowned, and lauded, and in fulsome oratory 
designated a Savior of France. 

In November, 1791, after a few weeks' vaca- 
tion in Arras, he returned to Paris to take up 
the duties of his office as Public Accuser to the 
Tribunal of the Seine. 

In the intoxication of their joy, the people 
imagined that the Constitution would secure and 
guarantee all the blessings of free government; 
it took some time for them to reach their sober 
senses, but when they did they found that their 
hopes were mere delusions. 

The instrument was a compromise; it had re- 
enthroned an abdicated and imprisoned king but 
had shorn him of his power ; it had re-established 

211 



ROBESPIERRE 

the monarchy, only in form to be sure, but at a 
period when the people thought the time was 
ripe for the erection of a republic. It was but a 
makeshift, and vfas popular only while the shouts 
and the enthusiasm of the people continued. 
When after their jubilation they began to study 
and test its provisions, it was found to be too 
radical for the monarchists ; too monarchistic for 
the radicals. Although the king had accepted it 
with every pledge of loyalty no sooner were his 
promises given to support it than he began to 
conspire to destroy it. 

[The new congress, called the Legislative As- 
sembly, was convoked October i, 1791. A de- 
cree, in the nature of a self-denying ordinance, 
had been enacted in the former legislature, upon 
the motion of Robespierre, which provided that 
the members of the National Assembly should not 
be eligible to re-election, and the new body was in 
consequence composed of men without legislative 
experience and unknown to the country at large. 
Madame Roland, in referring to the new assem- 
bly, said it resembled more than anything else 
a council of village attorneys. 
^Considerably more than half the members were 
lawyers. Many of them had come to the capital 
with reputations as great orators in their prov- 
inces, and they were anxious not only to win fame 
through their eloquence, but also to lose nothing 
in comparison with the distinguished members 
of the National Assembly. 

The king had speeded with his blessing the 
212 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

parting of the old congress, but he welcomed the 
new one with an indifference and a coldness that 
wounded the pride and the self-importance of its 
members. In retaliation for his rudeness, the 
Assembly by solemn decree stripped the king of 
his title " Sire," an affectionate designation used 
from time immemorial in petitioning or address- 
ing his Majesty; and all Paris, at a rebuke so 
foolish, at vengeance so petty, held its sides in 
derisive laughter. The journalists gave full play 
to their wit, and found ample opportunity to ridi- 
cule the antics of the unsophisticated legislators. 
But time soon brought the knowledge that was 
needed, notwithstanding the absence of the ex- 
perienced members of the old congress; the new 
assembly was found to contain many men of ex- 
ceptional ability and of incomparable eloquence. 

The Girondins, a political party or rather fac- 
tion, composed in the main of deputies from the 
Gironde, a department located in the southwest 
of France, the chief town of which is Bordeaux, 
held the ascendency in the new Convention. Du- 
mouriez, classed with them, was in the ministry 
and without doubt the ablest man in it.^ The 
parlors of Madame Roland were the rendezvous 
of the clan. 

They represented the well-to-do middle class. 
In their ranks were lawyers, scholars, and orators 
of conspicuous eloquence. They were the ro- 
mancers of the Revolution and drew their inspira- 
tion from the history and the heroism of ancient 

1 See " Danton and the French Revolution," p. ipi. 



ROBESPIERRE 

Rome. They never spoke but they transported 
themselves in imagination to the Capitol or to the 
Forum. 

They were greater philosophers, scholars, and 
orators than politicians. When it came to politi- 
cal scheming, they were far outclassed by the 
Jacobins. The latter were ultra-revolutionary; 
they held no middle course, always had their pur- 
poses well defined, and appreciated the fact that 
political mastery was to be secured only by unity, 
organization, and force. The bitter conflict be- 
tween these two factions resulted in the deluging 
of France with blood. Brissot was the leader of 
the Girondins, and Vergniaud their greatest ora- 
tor. The Jacobins, in the death-struggle with the 
Girondins, were led by Robespierre, and never in 
his whole political career did he show greater 
talent for leadership. 

Jean Pierre Brissot, called the " dme politique " 
of the Girondins, came from Normandy. So 
great was his influence in the councils of his 
faction, that his leadership was acknowledged, 
and the party was designated the Brissotins as 
well as the Girondins. 

He was born in a village near Chartres in 1754, 
being the son of a pastry cook; it was from this 
fact that the saying arose that he had all the 
heat of his father's ovens. He spent some time 
in preparing for admission to the bar; but, aban- 
doning his purpose in this direction, he turned 
author, and before he was twenty years of age 
published several works, one of which caused his 
arrest and imprisonment in the Bastile. He was 
214 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

a born agitator and pamphleteer. As a politician 
he was clever and not scrupulous in the adoption 
of means to effect an end. A stout and lusty 
partisan, he was willing to sacrijfice anything to 
advance the interests of his faction. 

At heart he was a real reformer and a relentless 
foe to tyranny. During the Revolution he 
wielded considerable influence through the col- 
umns of a newspaper he edited called " The 
Patriot," which became the organ of his party. 
He early crossed swords with Robespierre and 
they grew to be bitter and uncompromising ene- 
mies. At the time of the king's trial Brissot 
would gladly have saved Louis; but he did not 
have the courage of his convictions and voted for 
death, sacrificing the life of the king rather than 
imperiling the safety of his party. 

Brissot was of medium height, slight in figure, 
and of pale complexion. He was an ardent ad-< 
mirer of the Americans, and having adopted the 
garb of a Quaker, nothing pleased him more than) 
to be taken for one. 

Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud was born at 
Limoges, in 1759. It was through the favor of 
the great Turgot that he secured a scholarship in 
the College du Plessis at Paris. Pursuing his 
studies diligently, he graduated from this insti- 
tution with high honors and had even at that 
early period of his life the reputation of being 
deeply learned in the lore of the ancients. At the 
time of the meeting of the States-General, he was 
successfully practicing in Bordeaux his profession 
of law. He was not elected a deputy to the Con- 
215 



ROBESPIERRE 

vention in 1789, but he warmly espoused the 
cause of the Revolution from the very start. 

He was tall and heavily built, but had the 
slouchy carriage of a man indolent by nature. 
He required stimulation to bring his talents into 
play; but, when once aroused, his eloquence was 
of the highest order. His voice was deep and 
rich in its tones and capable of expressing every 
emotion. 

Mirabeau, Barnave, Isnard, and Vergniaud 
were unquestionably the greatest orators pro- 
duced by the Revolution ; in fact, they stand in the 
front rank of the world's leading masters of the 
art, whether ancient or modern. Vergniaud, 
however, was the first in this immortal group; 
between him and his colleagues there was a dif- 
ference, hard to define, and yet distinct enough 
to mark his superiority. In his impassioned 
flights he must have been sublime. Although 
poetic, imaginative, and emotional in tempera- 
ment, he had the power of close analysis and logi- 
cal reasoning; his reading having covered a vast 
field, he was never at a loss for apt quotation, 
illustration, allusion, or comparison. His pre- 
pared speeches were models in composition. 

A man more of words than of action, incapable 
of mastering details, without executive or organ- 
izing ability, he never became a supreme party 
leader, and his commanding position and influ- 
ence were due alone to his extraordinary elo- 
quence. When in the tribune he was a king 
among men ; he commanded their admiration ; he 
moved them to tears or aroused them to ^xaspera- 

n6 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

tion; he played upon their emotions at his will. 
But at the council board he was indifferent and 
unimpressive. 

According to the testimony of all his acquaint- 
ances he was one of the most lovable of men; 
kindly, gentle, and ever considerate of the feel- 
ings of others. In his famous reply to Robes- 
pierre he revealed the real sentiment of his heart 
when he declared that although " some men seek 
to accomplish the Revolution by terror, it would 
be my wish to accomplish it by love." He un- 
fortunately was without that force and decision 
of character that make men heroic, and voted for 
the death of the king after having only the day 
before scouted the idea that he could do such a 
thing. 

At the time of his own trial and execution, 
however, he displayed the true heroism of his 
nature. While in prison he was reduced to a 
state of destitution, his garments were in tatters, 
and he was without means to purchase a suit iii 
which to appear while going to the scaffold. His 
brother-in-law came to the jail to relieve his 
needy condition, and brought with him his little 
son. The child, when he saw his uncle, was so 
shocked at his appearance that he burst into tears. 
Taking the little fellow on his lap, Vergniaud 
said : " Look well at me, my child ; when you 
are a man you can say that you saw Vergniaud, 
the founder of the Republic, at the most glorious 
period of his life and in the most splendid costume 
he ever wore — that in which he suffered the per- 
secution of wretches, and in which he prepared to 

217 



ROBESPIERRE 

die for liberty." He went to execution without 
displaying the slightest fear, his grand voice sing- 
ing in exultation the inspiring strains of the Mar- 
seillaise. 

Gensonne and Guadet were also prominent in 
the councils of the Girondins. They were men of 
high character and marked ability and were able 
speakers. But next to Vergniaud as an orator 
among the members of the Girondins must be 
named Maximin Isnard. He came from Pro- 
vence and was the son of a wholesale perfumer at 
Grasse. His father had him educated for a lit- 
erary career. He studied his politics in the clas- 
sic states of Greece and Rome and lived in the 
atmosphere of the ancients. His eloquence was 
as fervent as his southern blood ; his impassioned 
words were born in the heat of inspiration. He 
could incite the fury of his hearers or lead them 
persuasively to conviction. The first night he ap^7 
peared and spoke at the Jacobins', he scored a\ 
triumph; he swept the audience off its feet andj 
closed amidst a whirlwind of applause. ^ 

When the allies were threatening the invasion 
of France, he cried out defiantly in the Assembly : 
" Tell Europe that you will respect the constituV 
tions of all other countries, but that if a war of 
kings be raised against France you will raise a 
war of people against kings." 

He was a bitter partisan and not always tem- 
perate in his speech. At the time the Girondins 
were in a death-struggle with the Mountain he 
declared : " If by fatal chance, in any of the 
tumults which since the loth of March are ever 
218 




GENSONNE 

From an engraving in the collection of William J. Latta, Esq. 

After a painting by Raffet 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

returning, Paris were to raise a sacrilegious hand 
against the national representatives, France would 
rise as one man in never-imagined vengeance and 
cause such ruin that soon the traveler coming to 
locate the site of the city of the universe would 
have to ask on which side of the Seine Paris had 
stood." This was eloquence to a high degree, 
but it was most ill-timed, for it aroused the anger 
of the Parisians and resulted in sweeping the 
Girondins from power. 

These men — Brissot, Vergniaud, Gensonne, 
Guadet, and Isnard — were the leaders of a great 
party, a party of lofty purposes that hoped to lead 
France to freedom and to glory ; but alas ! had not 
wisdom enough to reach its ideals or even to save 
itself from destruction. None of the factions had 
so many eloquent and distinguished speakers, but 
unfortunately for the welfare of the Republic the 
party was stronger in declamation than in or- 
ganization and political management. 

The French Revolution produced a great array 
of orators, and it is through their orations that 
we can breathe the atmosphere and enter into the 
real spirit of those stirring and exciting times. 
Oratory during the Revolution was born of the 
existing conditions ; it was but a reflection of the 
hopes and ideals of an enfranchised people; it 
was the impassioned utterance of their longings 
and desires. Speech had been pent up so long 
that when it escaped from its thraldom it broke 
forth in a natural and an exultant eloquence. 
Under the old regime the pulpit and the bar alone 
gave an opportunity for the cultivation and dis- 
219 



ROBESPIERRE 

play of oratory ; there was no political arena in an 
absolute monarchy where men could struggle in 
debate and argue public questions, for all power 
was monopolized by the privileged classes; there 
was no such thing as freedom of speech. But the 
Revolution seemed to be the dawning of an era 
of light, of hope, of promise, and men became 
inspired under the new influence. Eloquence 
finds its true expression only in the atmosphere 
of freedom. It was before Athens passed under 
the yoke of Philip and while she was still free 
that Demosthenes thundered, and it was during 
the days of the republic that all the great orators) 
of Rome flourished. 

Bossuet, Bourdaloue, Flechier, Mascaron, and 
Massillon brought pulpit eloquence in France to 
its highest development ; but that class of oratory 
appealed only to the fears and the imaginations 
of men and in a vainglorious and an intolerant 
reign, like that of Louis XIV, it became adulatory 
in style, subservient in tone, and dogmatic in ex- 
pression. 

A very large number of the delegates of the 
Third Estate in the Assembly had been practicing 
lawyers; they had harangued the juries in the 
municipal and provincial courts, but in Paris in 
the hall of the Convention they found a new 
theme and a broader field for their eloquence. 

The French language, spirited, vivacious, 
facile, concise, with its direct derivation from the 
Latin, is a great vehicle for the conveyance of 
thought and the development of eloquence; but 
never did it assume so picturesque and so en- 

220 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

thusiastic a form as in the stormy days of the 
French Revolution. 

The reason why oratory played so important 
a part in the legislative bodies of the Revolution 
was because the Assemblies were not only arenas 
for the display of popular eloquence, but also be- 
cause they offered great opportunities for real elo- 
quence to win substantial victories. The major- 
ity of the deputies, to be sure, were divided into 
factions ; but outside of these factions were many 
independent members, constituting what was 
called the " Marsh " or the " Plain," who were 
not controlled nor even influenced by factional 
or party spirit. It was these men that the great 
orators strove to win. These floaters could not 
be driven into line by party whips; their minds 
were open to conviction, and they could be per- 
suaded by argument, Mirabeau, Vergniaud, 
Danton, and Robespierre time and again appealed 
to these men, and their votes often won the day. 

In the. British Parliament and in the American 
Congress, an orator does not expect to win votes 
from the opposition save in exceptional cases; 
even the logic of Burke and the eloquence of 
Webster could not break through party lines and 
they had no " Marsh " or " Plain," as in the 
French Assemblies, to which they could appeal. 
The remarkable display of oratory produced by 
the French Revolution is therefore more readily 
comprehended. 



221 



CHAPTER XVII 

THE GIRONDINS FAVOR WAR ROBESPIERRE OP- 
POSES DECLARATION OF WAR WAR DECLARED 

ACCUSATION OF THE EMIGRANT PRINCES 

MIRABEAU THE YOUNGER THE KING^S VE- 
TOES PROCLAMATION OF THE DUKE OF 

BRUNSWICK DANTON 

In the autumn of 1791, the horizon was black 
with the clouds of impending war. All Europe 
was secretly conspiring against the Revolution. 
In fact, ever since 1789 emperors and kings had 
threatened the peace of France, her ministers and 
ambassadors had been rejected by foreign courts 
while those sent from Coblentz had been accepted. 
Still there was no specific declaration of war by 
any foreign prince or state and it was hoped by 
many in France that war might be averted. 
France had a controversy with some of the petty 
German States, but the rest of Europe, in so far 
as an invasion of their rights was concerned, had 
no reason to assume towards her a belligerent at- 
titude even though the Revolution was a menace 
to royalty everywhere. France had not broken 
the law of nations, her troubles were all internal, 
her efforts had been confined to the reformation 
of her own government. 

The crowned heads of Europe were anxious to 
save Louis, but they feared that a declaration of 
222 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

war on their part would unite all France against 
the invasion of foreign kings and put Louis's life 
in peril. It was because of this they delayed de- 
cisive action. On the other hand they did not 
want to forsake and leave him to the fury and the 
vengeance of the mob. 

The emigrant princes at Coblentz were schem- 
ing and plotting and every day by their foolish 
conduct and silly proclamations were imperiling 
the safety of the king and arousing the indigna- 
tion of all France. " I can see what they are do- 
ing for themselves, but I cannot see what they 
are doing for us," said Marie Antoinette. 

It was the common belief in France that Louis 
was in correspondence with the emigrants and 
the Emperor of Austria, and that armies were be- 
ing organized and equipped to destroy the results 
of the Revolution and to rehabilitate the ancient 
regime. The camping of hostile troops on the 
frontiers was taken in proof of this, 

" Those marshalled foreigners, shall they 
Make laws to reach the Frenchmen's hearth ? " 

• In view of the attitude of Europe and for the 
honor of France, the Girondins strongly favored 
a declaration of war. Brissot declared that " a 
people who after ten centuries of slavery have 
reconquered liberty, have need of war. War is 
necessary to consolidate liberty and to purge the 
Constitution from all taint of despotism. You 
have the power of chastising the rebels and intim- 
idating the world; have the courage to do so. 
The emigres persist in their rebellion; the sover- 

223 



ROBESPIERRE 

eigns persist in supporting them. Can we hesi- 
tate to attack them? If you would, at one blow, 
destroy Coblentz, the chief of the nation would 
then be compelled to reign according to the Con- 
stitution, with us and through us." Again he de- 
clared : " If the peace lasts for six months it will 
strengthen a despotic sceptre in the hands of Louis 
XVI or a usurper's sceptre in the hands of the 
Duke of Orleans. War alone can give us a re- 
public." Such utterances, coming from the 
leader of the Girondins, awakened a response in 
every patriotic heart. 

The Girondins sought war from selfish as well 
as from lofty and patriotic motives. They be- 
lieved it would increase their popularity and in- 
fluence as a party, and that it would, besides, add 
to the glory of France and be the means of carry- 
ing liberty by French victories to the oppressed 
of all nations; for in their enthusiasm they an- 
nounced that the mission of a republic was the 
emancipation of all mankind from tyranny. 

Robespierre persistently opposed a declaration 
of war, which was urged as he declared by the 
Girondins, intriguing ministers, and ambitious 
generals. He was not in any sense a disciple of 
Mars. " The dance of the French drums " was 
not music in his ears. He contended that either 
victory or defeat might work to the detriment of 
the Revolution. If the allies were successful all 
that the Revolution had gained would be lost; if 
the French armies were victorious they might be 
used by their leader to set up a military dictator- 
ship. 

224 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

' His speeches were printed in the journals; and 
the organ of the Jacobins, the " Orateiir du Peu- 
ple," declared they were masterpieces of eloquence 
" that should be preserved in every family in or- 
der to teach future generations that Robespierre 
existed for the public good and the preservation 
of liberty." In the wild excitement of the hour, 
however, his warnings were not heeded by the 
people. 

For a month he stood almost alone and fought 
single-handed against his friends, his enemies, and 
public opinion. He displayed a courage that in- 
duced the admiration even of his foes and evinced 
a spirit of independence that was not only to be 
admired, but was at times almost heroic. 

Madame Roland declared that " he defended 
his principles with warmth and pertinacity; he 
had the boldness to stand up singly in their de- 
fence and often when the number of the peo- 
ple's champions was vastly reduced." 

Marat also strenuously opposed a declaration 
of war, asserting that military glory only in- 
creased the taxes and the burdens of the poor. 

The extreme Jacobins and Cordeliers opposed 
war for no other reason, said the Girondins, than 
that it would give an opportunity to La Fayette 
to win fresh laurels. 

At last, unable to resist public opinion, Louis 
reluctantly proposed to the Assembly the declara- 
tion of war on the 21st of April, 1792, and the 
decree was passed at once by a large majority. 

In the Assembly, the Girondins decisively car- 
ried every motion that favored its prosecution. 

15 225 



ROBESPIERRE 

The war spirit was rife, and at this time the 
Girondins were high in pubHc esteem. They 
outlawed the emigrants and, by special decree, put 
under accusation Monsieur, the king's brother, 
who was afterwards Louis XVIII, the Count 
d'Artois, who subsequently ascended the throne 
as Charles X, the Prince of Conde, Calonne, the 
minister of finance during the old regime, and 
Mirabeau the Younger. 

Boniface Riquetti, le Vicompte de Mirabeau, 
was brother of the famous Mirabeau, and was 
sent by the nobility as a delegate to the States- 
General in 1789. He defended his order with an 
energy equal to that with which his brother as- 
sailed it. He really was a man of considerable 
ability, but unfortunately for him, in so far as a 
display of his talents was concerned, he stood in 
the shadow of a great name. 

He was almost as big as he was tall, and his 
size, produced by an overindulgence in the pleas- 
ures of the table, gave him the nickname of Hogs- 
head or Barrel. The great Mirabeau, in alluding/ 
to the Vicompte, declared that " in any other fam- 
ily he would be a good-for-nothing fellow and a 
genius ; in ours he is a worthy man and a block- ; 
head." ^ 

He served with some distinction in America, 
but his devotion to the cause of the colonies did 
not lessen his loyalty to the king. He emigrated 
from France in 1790, levied a legion and served, 
under the Prince of Conde, without obtaining a 
chance to show his valor. 

His death was sudden and tragic. A fellow 

226 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

officer came to his tent with an order from Conde 
at a time when he did not wish to be disturbed. 
The officer, however, insisted upon delivering the 
order personally, when Mirabeau, growing angry, 
seized his sword and rushed out upon the in- 
truder; but, in the scuffle that ensued, he himself 
was slain. 

The outlawry and accusation of these royalists 
met with universal approval. It was intended as 
a rebuke to the king, who was supposed to be in 
communication with them and through their in- 
strumentality effecting a union with foreign 
princes for the invasion of France. 

The emigrants hung like a cloud on the borders 
of the country, menacing and disturbing its peace. 
They were as foolish at Coblentz as they had 
been at Versailles, and their threats, instead of 
intimidating, only angered the people, united them 
in patriotic fervor, and imperiled the life of the 
king. 

To add to the general mistrust and discontent, 
the king vetoed two popular measures, one pro- 
viding for the establishment of a camp of 20,000 
men near Paris for the protection of the capital 
against the foes without and the traitors within; 
the other for the banishment of priests who per- 
sisted in defying the law by refusing to take an 
oath of allegiance to the Constitution. These 
vetoes greatly increased the unpopularity of 
Louis. The favorite cry of the rabble, to show 
their contempt for the king, was now : " Down 
with the Veto." 

Why, it was asked, should the government not 
227 



ROBESPIERRE 

adopt every means within its power to protect the 
capital; and if the king could take the oath to 
support the Constitution, why should not the 
priests ? 

Robespierre at this time boldly supported the 
king's veto in relation to the clericals, in so far 
as their banishment was concerned, and did it at 
the risk of destroying his own popularity ; in fact, 
upon one occasion at a meeting of the Jacobins, 
he argued so earnestly upon the question that he 
provoked his party colleagues to such a degree 
that one of the deputies of the Mountain openly 
and sneeringly advised him to go over to the 
" Right." Condorcet at one time declared that 
Robespierre was at heart a priest. The majority 
of the common people, perhaps, did not alto- 
gether understand what the veto meant, but it 
was enough for them to know that it was an act 
upon the part of the king that deserved every 
patriot's disapprobation and censure. 

Two countrymen, so the story goes, were talk- 
ing upon the matter. " Dost thou know," said 
one of them, " what the veto is ? " " No, not 
I," replied the other. " Well, then, thou hast thy 
basin full of soup ; the king says to thee * Spill 
thy soup,' and thou art forced to spill it." Not a 
very accurate description of the veto, one will 
say. Though it may have been a royalist story 
to illustrate the ignorance of the peasant, it an- 
swered a purpose from a popular point of view in 
that it made the conduct of the king appear arbi- 
trary and offensive. 

The Church, not only because of the confisca- 
228 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

tion of its lands, but also on account of the re- 
strictions placed upon the prelates, was now the 
open and declared enemy of the Revolution. In 
the country districts, where many of the people 
were still orthodox, the priests were appealing to 
the fear and the superstition of the faithful, arous- 
ing their hatred and thus threatening civil war, 
or worse a thousand times than that, a religious 
war. Constitutional priests were driven from 
their parishes in several districts, while non- 
juring priests were assaulted in others. In some 
localities each church had two pastors and a di- 
vided flock. 

About the middle of June, 1792, the king dis- 
missed the Girondin ministers — Roland, Servan, 
and Claviere, and shortly afterwards requested 
the resignation of Dumouriez. A Feuillant min- 
istry was at once selected and installed. 

The 20th of June was the " Day of the Black 
Breeches," ^ but Robespierre appears not to have 
taken any active part in instigating the mob to 
march, nor did he have a hand in bringing the 
Marseillais to Paris.^ 

In July the Duke of Brunswick issued his in- 
solent proclamation, which aroused not only the 
fiery indignation, but also the patriotism of the 
whole nation. The Declaration of Pilnitz, pro- 
mulgated by the German emperor and the king of 
Prussia in the summer of 1791, which threatened 
intervention, was bad enough ; but the Proclama- 
tion of Brunswick,^ which had been written by 

1 See " Danton and the French Revolution," p. 200. 
- Ibid., p. 220. 
^ Ibid., p. 227. 

3i9 



ROBESPIERRE 

the silly courtiers at Coblentz, and to which the 
duke had merely affixed his signature, set France 
on fire. In the language of this impudent docu- 
ment, every town, village, and hamlet that should 
make resistance to the advance of the armies of 
the allies was doomed to destruction, and if Paris 
should ofifer any violence or insult to the members 
of the royal family, the city was to be given over 
to fire and sword. The paper breathed forth; 
hate and vengeance in every line. J 

The king, of course, became more than ever an 
object of suspicion, for the French princes and no- 
bles were united with the foreign kings in the 
threatened invasion. The enemies of France 
were the friends of Louis, and they were advanc- 
ing to destroy the fruits of the Revolution, to re- 
habilitate the Bourbon dynasty, to overthrow lib- 
erty, and to establish tyranny. If the allies were 
successful, all that the Revolution had gained 
would be irretrievably lost. 

France, however, instead of cowering under 
these threats, defiantly accepted the challenge, and 
her answer to this insolent document of Bruns- 
wick was an attack upon the palace of the Tuile- 
ries and the deposition of the king. 

At this time Danton was the most active man 
in the Sections, indeed it may be said, he was the 
most prominent figure, the protagonist, in the 
great drama of the Revolution, Ever since 
the death of Mirabeau he had been forging to the 
front, and he now occupied a position that gave 
him a far-reaching influence. He was tall and 
robust in frame and ugly in feature, his face be- 
230 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

ing pitted with the smallpox and disfigured by 
wounds inflicted by wild beasts he had encoun- 
tered in his youth; but he was, withal, of an im- 
pressive and a commanding personality. This 
" Alcibiades of the rabble," plebeian by birth and 
political inclination, had the tastes of a patrician 
and in many respects closely resembled the great 
Mirabeau ; he was fond of high living, loved the 
pleasures of the table, the society of genial com- 
panions, and was careless of money ; he was not, 
however, a libertine, but was loyally and devot- 
edly attached to his wife. 

The Revolution was an inspiration to Danton ; 
it stimulated his effort. To him it had a pur- 
pose; it was the means to the establishment of 
free and popular government. He was the very 
opposite of Robespierre. In temperament and 
personality, no two men could be more dissimilar. 
Danton was defiant, blatant, unreserved; his in- 
tentions were not concealed, he fought in the 
open. He was not an idealist, a dreamer, but 
was practical in all his methods and designs. He 
possessed the real qualities of leadership — bold- 
ness, resolution, audacity, generosity, and besides 
was an orator of great power and had the at- 
tributes of a politician and a statesman. 

His courage was incomparable. When foreign 
armies were pressing on the borders of France 
and even brave men suggested the abandonment 
of the capital, his voice rang out in trumpet tones 
above the din, confusion, and cries of despair, de- 
fying the approaching hosts, and arousing to ac- 
tion his dismayed and disheartened countrymen. 

231 



ROBESPIERRE 

At first 'he opposed the war, beHeving and fear- 
ing that it would strengthen poHtically the faction 
of the Girondins by greatly adding to their popu- 
larity, but at last yielding to public pressure he 
gave it his most loyal support. 

The uprising of the people on the loth of 
August ^ dethroned the king ; then followed the 
domiciliary visits ^ and the September massa- 
cres.^ During these exciting events Robespierre 
stood in the background out of the din and smoke 
of the conflict. " He hides himself," said Con- 
dorcet, " at the approach of danger and does not 
reappear till the danger is over." In fact, he was 
charged with having concealed himself in a cellar, 
while the attack was being made upon the palace 
of the Tuileries. " He had not the initiative of 
a man of action," says Morley. " He invented 
none of the ideas or methods of the Revolution." 
If these statements be true, it must on the other'', 
hand be admitted that he was shrewd and dex- 
terous enough to appropriate the results obtained 
by the genius and the boldness of others. His 
natural prudence, or, if you please, his timidity, 
induced him to avoid taking an active part in ef- 
fecting those violent measures ; but he did not hes- ( 
itate to accept them afterwards as progressive/ 
steps in the Revolution. 

1 See " Danton and the French Revolution," p. 236. 
^ Ibid., p. 261. 
^Ibid., p. 264. 



232 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE NATIONAL CONVENTION CONVOKED — THE 

LEGISLATIVE BODIES OF THE REVOLUTION 

THE REPUBLIC PROCLAIMED JACOBINS AND 

GIRONDINS ROBESPIERRE ASSAILED BY LOU- 
VET — ROBESPIERRE REPLIES TO LOUVET — 
BARERE. 

The last congress summoned during the Revo- 
lution was the National Convention. Its sessions 
began September 20, 1792, immediately upon the 
adjournment of the Legislative Assembly, and 
its dissolution did not take place until October 
26, 1795, a year and three months after the death 
of Robespierre. It witnessed the closing scenes 
of the " Reign of Terror " and the culmination of 
that terrific and impassioned struggle. 

The States-General, which developed into the 
National or Constituent Assembly, the Legislative 
Assembly, and the National Convention were the 
legislative bodies successively called into existence 
during the Revolution. Of these three legislative 
bodies, Robespierre was a deputy to the States- 
General, a member of the National Assembly, 
and a delegate to the National Convention. 

The States-General met, as we have seen, on 
the 5th of May, 1789; and the deputies of the 
Third Estate on the 17th of June, of that same 
233 



ROBESPIERRE 

year, organized the National Assembly, also 
called the Constituent Assembly from the fact 
that it drew up the Constitution of 1791. 

The delegates to the States-General, it was un- 
derstood, had been elected to serve for not longer 
than one year, or at the king's pleasure, but after 
the organization of the National Assembly the 
members took an oath not to separate until after 
they had given a Constitution to France ; in con- 
sequence it was September 30, 1791, before the 
body dissolved, its sessions having covered a 
period of about two years and three months. 

The Legislative Assembly convened on the 
first day of October, 1791. The Constitution 
had a clause which provided that no alteration 
should be made in its provisions without a Con- 
vention being specially summoned for the pur- 
pose. This Congress, accordingly, had to confine 
its attention solely to the enactment of laws, and 
hence was called the Legislative Assembly. 

In the successive periods covered by these dif- 
ferent legislative bodies, may be traced the course, 
the progress, and the purposes of the Revolution. 
The National or Constituent Assembly sought to 
establish a constitutional monarchy, but evinced 
no desire nor intention to destroy the throne. 
The Legislative Assembly marked the beginning 
of the bitter struggle between the two dominant 
factions for supremacy, and revealed a desire for 
the founding of a republic. The National Con- 
vention continued the factional strife, urged not 
only the destruction of the throne but the execu- 
tion of the king, developed an intense revolution- 

234 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

ary spirit, organized the Great Committee, and 
inaugurated the " Reign of Terror." 

The first important move of the National Con- 
vention after opening its sessions on September 
20, 1792, was to pass on the 21st a decree abol- 
ishing the monarchy and establishing the Repub- 
lic. It was from this day, September 21, 1792, 
that the Republic dated its beginning. So roy- 
alty was legislated out of existence and France 
had a government without an executive head. 

When the Republic was declared there was no 
debate as to the abolition of the monarchy; the 
latter had no champions, and its destruction was 
accepted as a matter of course. " What need is 
there for discussion," said a delegate, " where all 
are of one mind? Courts are the hot-beds of 
crime, the focus of corruption. The history of 
kings is the martyrology of nations." What rea- 
son is there for a free people, it was asked, to 
continue a government which in its nature is des- 
potic? To these questions no pertinent answers 
were made and without ceremony the once proud 
throne of the Bourbons was toppled over in the 
dust. 

At this time the royal family were confined in 
the temple; and, that Louis might hear his doom 
pronounced, it was directed that public procla- 
mation should be made. Accordingly, on the 
2 1 St day of September, about four o'clock in the 
afternoon, Lubin, a municipal officer, attended 
by horsemen and a great mob, came under the 
windows of the room occupied by Louis and the 
queen. 

235 



ROBESPIERRE 

(Trumpets were sounded and the multitude com- 
manded to keep silence. Lubin, who had the 
voice of a stentor, bellowed in his loudest tones 
the abolition of royalty and the establishment of 
a republic. During the reading of the proclama- 
tion, Louis held a book in his hand and had reso- 
lution enough to keep his eyes on the page without 
evincing the slightest interest in the proceed- 
ings ; the queen displayed a like indifference. All 
the while they were rudely stared at by their at- 
tendants, among whom was the infamous Hebert, 
but they passed through the trying ordeal with 
courage. 

Their apparent unconcern, however, was only 
to conceal their real emotions; it was but smoth- 
ering the fires that inwardly consumed them. 
Their proud spirits had to submit tamely to the 
humiliation of being publicly shorn of honor, dig- 
nity, title, power; of being deprived of sceptre, 
crown, and throne; and of being compelled to wit- 
ness the destruction of that grand old monarchy 
they had inherited from their ancestors, and to 
behold in its stead the establishment of a govern- 
ment of the rabble. 

With the convening of the National Conven- 
tion many of the old leaders of the Constituent 
Assembly came back to public life, and notable 
among them was Robespierre. 

The Resolution of May 7, 1791, which made 
the members of the National Assembly ineligible 
to membership in the succeeding legislature had 
removed Robespierre for the time being from ac- 
tive and direct participation in parliamentary af- 
236 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

fairs. During the sessions of the Legislative As- 
sembly, in his many speeches at the Club of the 
Jacobins, he opposed the measures and policies 
of the Girondins. It was in this period that he 
delivered at the meetings of the Jacobins some 
of the most remarkable and famous speeches of 
his entire political career ; but with the assembling 
of the National Convention, having been elected 
as first deputy for Paris, he met his antagonists 
face to face and on an equal footing. 

The Girondins were still in the majority; that 
is, they were the strongest among the factions in 
the Convention. The Jacobins and the Girondins 
were not great political parties, as parties are 
known in the United States. They did not have 
national platforms declaring their principles and 
defining their policies, nor what we call party or^ 
ganization with a chairman or chief executive at 
the head of a committee on management. 

To be sure, the Jacobins had their affiliated so- 
cieties throughout the kingdom, but these were 
only clubs or local associations. The time had 
not arrived for the calling of national conven- 
tions, for boss rule, and for the distribution of 
patronage through party channels ; although there 
was as much scrambling for spoils in those days 
as in ours. 

The Jacobins and the Girondins both were rev- 
olutionists and republicans, but the line of demar- 
cation between them, so far as principles were 
concerned, was quite distinct. The former were 
more radical in their views than the latter, and 
more closely represented the common people. The 
237 



ROBESPIERRE 

Jacobins favored a real democracy, while the 
Girondins were more aristocratic in their tenden- 
cies, and would have vested the powers of gov- 
ernment in the middle classes. 

There were other factions in the Convention 
that held, when united, the balance of power, and 
in a contest between the two dominant parties 
they often decided the day. 

Next to a religious conflict in animosity is a 
political one, and no two factions ever fought 
with such desperation as the Jacobins and the 
Girondins. It was literally a war to the death. 
In many respects, it closely resembled the con- 
tinuous and terrific struggle for supremacy be- 
tween the plebeians and the patricians under the 
ancient republic of Rome, and was equal to it in 
bitterness. 

Madame Roland exerted a great influence in 
the councils of the Girondins ; in fact, she may be 
classed as one of their leaders; but, lacking in 
that judgment and discretion so essential in polit- 
ical leadership, she continually involved her 
friends in all sorts of trouble and in a consequent 
web of explanations. Her salons rang with ru- 
mors of conspiracies and dictatorships. 

The government was without an individual ex- 
ecutive chief; it was not only kingless but head- 
less, and it was not strange, under the circum- 
stances, that ambitious men were suspected of 
aspiring to absolute power. Caesarism stalked 
through the nation like a ghost and constantly 
disturbed the minds of men. The opportunity 
238 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

for usurpation made patriots fear its consumma- 
tion. 

Robespierre was charged by his enemies with 
conspiring to reach a dictatorship, and there is no 
question that his name was mentioned by some 
of his partisans in connection with that office ; al- 
though he may not have instigated such a plot, he 
said and did nothing to prevent its being carried 
out. 

^Marat, it is related, called on him at his lodg- 
ings to satisfy his mind on the all-important ques- 
tion. The interview between the dirty, squalid 
creature from the slums and the neat, fastidious 
man from Arras makes a picture that an artist 
might find an interesting subject for his canvas. 

Marat found him poring over the pages of 
Rousseau. The doctor was not impressed with 
the qualities of the little lawyer for a position so 
important, and, doubtless, came away more con- 
vinced than ever that he himself was the only 
man in France fitted for the place. 

The partisans of Robespierre whispered into 
the ear of Barbaroux, a leading Girondin, an out- 
line of their purpose ; but the sturdy patriot would 
have nothing to do with such a plan, and declared 
emphatically that he wanted neither dictator nor 
king, although if he were driven to a choice he 
would prefer the latter. 

The rumors were beginning to injure the rep- 
utation of Robespierre, and the Girondins lost no 
opportunity to increase the public suspicions. The 
Jacobins were alert, however, and to throw their 
239 



ROBESPIERRE 

pursuers off the scent they made a counter charge 
that Brissot had an itching desire for the place. 

On the loth of October, 1792, Rebecqui, one 
of the Girondin deputies from Marseilles, charged 
Robespierre openly in the Convention with as- 
piring to a dictatorship. Barbaroux supported 
Rebecqui, and declared that when he came to 
Paris just before the loth of August several 
friends of Robespierre had suggested to him the 
selection of Robespierre as dictator, Barbaroux 
named Panis,' a deputy, as one of the men inter- 
ested in the matter. " Is it possible," said Panis 
in answer to the charge, " that Barbaroux, whom 
I love, can believe I ever meant such a thing?" 
But Barbaroux stood his ground and insisted that 
there could have been no misunderstanding in re- 
lation to the proposition that had been made to 
him. " Who besides yourself," said Panis, " can 
witness that I ever made such a proposal ? " \1 
can," cried out Rebecqui, " for I heard you." 

Robespierre was greatly disconcerted and his 
friends and party were silenced. An effort was 
made by some of his supporters to turn the at- 
tention of the Convention to what they claimed 
were matters of more importance to the Republic 
than mere accusations, founded upon rumors, 
against individual members, and at last, after 
skilful management, an adjournment was secured. 

On November 3rd, Roland read a report in the 
Convention to which was attached a letter from 
a member of the Paris Commune who demanded 
the death of the Girondins and a dictatorship for 
Robespierre. This came like a thunderbolt from 
240 



. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

a clear sky, and the quarrel between the factions 
was at once renewed. The Convention was 
thrown into an uproar; the members of the 
" Right " assailed Robespierre and hurled at him 
every epithet in the vocabulary of abuse. He 
was a villain, a traitor, a usurper. When he as- 
cended the tribune the tumult was so great that 
his feeble voice could not be heard. After com- 
parative quiet had been restored, however, he be- 
gan to speak; but his remarks were incoherent 
and as usual he could not refrain from descanting 
on his own virtues as a patriot. The chamber 
again grew impatient, and demanded that he 
speak to the point. At last, summoning all his 
strength and courage, he cried out : "You ca- 
lumniate a zealous patriot, but who is there in 
your midst that will dare to accuse me to my 
face?" "I," said Louvet, standing directly in 
front of the tribune and looking Robespierre 
steadily in the eye. Louvet was about to ascend 
the tribune when Danton, observing the discom- 
fiture of Robespierre, called out to him: " Con- 
tinue, my friend, there are many good citizens 
here to listen." But Robespierre's courage failed 
him and, livid with fear and rage, he shrank to 
one side to make room for Louvet, who at once 
ascended the tribune. Danton proposed an ad- 
journment, but Louvet would not give way, be- 
ing determined to be heard, 

Louvet was a young man about twenty-nine 
years of age, "of small stature, feminine form, 
delicate features, light hair, blue eyes, a pale com- 
plexion, and a massive brow." Madame Roland 
16 241 



ROBESPIERRE 

in a sketch of him says : *' He is ill looking) 
little, short-sighted and slovenly, but with dignity \ 
of brow and the fire that animates his eyes withi 
the expression of any great truth. It is impossi-/ 
ble to have more wit, less affectation and more) 
simplicity. Courageous as a lion, simple as a^ 
child, of great sensibility, a good citizen, a vig-( 
orous writer, he in the tribune can make Catiline 
tremble ; he can dine with the Graces and sup with 
Bachaumont." 

His face, of a melancholy cast, was marked 
not only with traces of sorrow but with the im- 
press of resolution. " He was one of those men," 
says a distinguished French historian, " whose 
political destiny endures for a day; but this day 
acquires them fame, for it attaches to their name 
the remembrance of sublime talent and sublime 
courage." 

His speech at this time was one of the most 
remarkable ever heard in the Convention. Cool, 
dauntless, resolute, he stood in the tribune wait- 
ing for silence, and before beginning cast a look 
of defiance in the direction of the Mountain. 
His speech was punctuated with the phrase : " I 
accuse you, Robespierre." His accusations 
formed an indictment in which Robespierre was 
charged with calumniating patriots ; with having 
•debased and proscribed the representatives of the 
nation; with having sought personal idolatry; 
with having permitted himself in his presence to 
be styled the only virtuous man in France who 
could save the people; and with having endeav- 
ored to obtain supreme power. Time and again 
242 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

the orator pointed his finger at Robespierre, who 
winced under the attack and could hardly restrain 
his anger. 

When Louvet descended from the tribune, the 
hall rang with applause. His friends received 
him with open arms. His speech was admired 
as much for the courage it displayed as for its 
eloquence. 

Robespierre, having so signally failed in the 
early part of the day's session to command the 
attention of the house, thought it better to secure 
time in which to prepare his answer. Besides, 
his enemies were impatient; they would not hear 
him, and some even demanded his immediate ac- 
cusation and arraignment. 

"When November 5th arrived, the day fixed 
for Robespierre to reply, he was prepared to meet 
the occasion. He had in the interim written an 
elaborate speech and had taken the precaution of 
filling the galleries with his retainers. " You 
accuse me," he said, " of aspiring to tyranny, but 
in order to attain it, means are necessary, and 
where are my treasures and my armies? " 

He answered seriatim the personal accusations, 
defended the Jacobins, and declared that the 2nd 
of September was but the sequel to the loth of 
August. He asserted emphatically that he never 
had a thought to subvert the Republic, and of 
course as usual proclaimed his loyalty and virtue. 

There was so much outward pretension in 
Robespierre that it was not surprising that men 
grew tired of his continual moralizing and be- 
came disgusted in listening to his self-proclaimed 

243 



ROBESPIERRE 

integrity. The man who is always boasting of 
^his honor is Hke the woman who asserts her vir- 
'tue. Their protestations are apt to create sus- 
picions. Robespierre's friends and supporters, 
too, upon every occasion prated of his incorrupti- 
bihty and pointed to him as the one honest man 
in the Republic. 

When the countryman voted to ostracise Aris- 
tides, it was not because of any political reason, 
but for the simple fact that he had grown tired 
of hearing one man in Athens everlastingly re- 
ferred to as " The Just." To signalize one indi- 
vidual in a community with such a designation 
seems to be a reflection on all the other citizens. 

After Robespierre concluded his speech, Louvet 
and Barbaroux attempted to continue the discus- 
sion, but Barere made a motion to postpone indefi- 
nitely further consideration of the question.^ 
" Citizens," he said, " if there existed in the Re-/ 
public a man born with the genius of Caesar and 
the boldness of Cromwell — such a man might be 
feared. But men of a day, paltry dabblers in 
commotion, who will never enter the field of his- 
tory, are not made to occupy the precious time 
which we owe to the nation." He then proposed ' 
the order of the day, which was meant to show 
the contempt of the Convention for any further 
consideration of the question. His motion was 
carried. 

That evening at the Jacobins', Robespierre was 
received in triumph, and about a week later Lou- 
vet, Barbaroux, and Rebecqui were expelled from 
the club. Barere was called to account for hav- 
. 244 



t^^^c 




15AKKRE 
■'roiii an engravins in the collection of William J. Latta. Esq. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

ing alluded to the contestants as " paltry dabblers 
in politics," but with his usual skill he parried the 
attack by declaring that he referred only to the 
opponents of Robespierre. 

Bertrand Barere, who by his motion had 
brought the dispute suddenly to an end, was, says 
Scott, '' a sort of Belial in the Convention, the 
meanest, yet not the least able, amongst those 
fallen spirits, who with great adroitness and in- 
genuity as well as wit and eloquence caught op- 
portunities as they arose, and was eminently dex- 
terous in being always strong upon the strongest 
and safe upon the safest side." Insincere and 
without principle, he made it a point to reflect 
always the views of the majority. 

He was of line address, oily in speech, and 
plausible in manner, while his real purposes at 
times were hard to fathom. 

" Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep." 

A keen, clever politician, all things to all men, 
he was skilful enough so to trim his sails as to 
avoid the dangerous currents of the Revolution. 
Stephens says that his reports as a member of 
the Committee of General Safety on the cam- 
paigns directed by Carnot inspired at the front 
the greatest enthusiasm, and in a certain engage- 
ment the French soldiers charged the enemy 
shouting : " Barere a la Tribune." These reports 
were not only unique in character, but in many 
instances were very eloquent, and this class of 
oratory subsequently found its highest develop- 
ment in the proclamations of Napoleon, 
245 



ROBESPIERRE 

Barere's celebrated epigram : '' // n'ya que les 
marts qui ne reviennent pas " — " It is only the 
dead who never return," which it was alleged was 
used by him as an argument in favor of the guil- 
lotine, is shown to have had an entirely different 
application. In so poetic and tender a vein did 
he allude to the executions, that he was called the 
" Anacreon of the guillotine." 

The story is told that he was in the habit of 
saying to a woman whom he visited : " Well ! 
to-morrow we shall get rid of twenty or thirty 
of them," and when she expressed her horror, he 
would laughingly add : " We must grease the 
wheels of the Revolution," This story, however, 
may not be true, as it does not harmonize with 
that related above. 

Among the distinguished men of his day few 
have been more vilified. Macaulay paints his 
character in the darkest shades and his essay on 
Barere is one of the finest pieces of vituperation 
in the whole range of English literature. It, 
seems strange, however, that the great essayist 
devoted so lengthy an article merely to the abuse ' 
of a man whom he considered so mean and detest-,' 
able. J 

" Ocean into tempest wrought 
To waft a feather or to drown a fly." 



246 



CHAPTER XIX 

TRIAL OF THE KING HIS EXECUTION TREA- 
SON OF DUMOURIEZ LASOURCE ATTACKS 

DANTON DUMOURIEZ GIRONDINS MA- 
RAT ACCUSED HALL OF THE CONVENTION. 

The Republic had a dethroned king on its 
hands and some disposition had to be made of 
him, for his presence was a menace to the new 
government. To hold him as a captive would 
arouse the sympathy of the world ; against treat- 
ment so cruel every throne in Europe would pro- 
test, and Louis would become the nucleus around 
which would gather all the opposition to the Re- 
public. 

The temper of the people was wrought up to 
frenzy by the frantic appeals of the demagogues 
who clamored for the king's death, mobs paraded 
through the streets shouting : " To the guillo- 
tine with Louis the Last," and every citizen who 
did not favor the execution was denounced by 
the radicals as a royalist. 

All sorts of reasons were given for and against 
his execution. " I am opposed to the shedding 
of human blood," said a certain deputy, " but 
the blood of a king is not the blood of a man." 
Another deputy declared : " While the tyrant 
breathes liberty suffocates;" and still another: 

247 



ROBESPIERRE 

" The only way to get rid of tyranny is to stran- 
gle it." 

On the other hand, " the indulgents," as they 
were called, argued that it was " foolish for the 
Republic to behead a man whom Rome would 
canonize as a saint " ; that " it would be wise to 
let Louis live that he might wander as a ghost 
among thrones " ; and that " to make a Charles 
I was to make a Cromwell." " Condemn Louis 
to learn a trade," cried one of the moderates, 
" that the world may see a dethroned king earn 
his living." These reasons were considered by 
the red republicans as only flimsy excuses to 
save the life of the king. 

Robespierre declared unreservedly that the ex- 
ecution of Louis was a political necessity. " You 
have not to pass sentence for or against a single 
man," he said addressing the Convention; "but 
you have to take a resolution on a question of the 
public safety and to decide a question of national 
foresight. A dethroned king in the bosom of 
a revolution, which is anything but cemented by 
laws, a king whose name sufifices to draw the 
scourge of war on the agitated nation — neither 
prison nor exile can render his existence imma- 
terial to the public welfare. It is with regret I 
pronounce the fatal truth. Louis ought to perish 
rather than a hundred thousand virtuous citi- 
zens. Louis must die that the country may 
live." 

( in November, the iron chest, which Louis 

had made with the assistance of Gamain the 

locksmith, was found in a wall of the palace, 

248 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

Roland carried it to his office, examined the con- 
tents, and the secret was out that the king had 
been in correspondence with the alHes and was 
conspiring with the emigrants. 

The Jacobins charged Roland with having sup- 
pressed the letters found in the box which im- 
plicated several of the leading Girondins in the 
court intrigues ; and in proof of this, Boze, a roy- 
alist, publicly stated that Vergniaud, Gensonne, 
and Guadet had written to the king before the 
loth of August, 1792, promising to render him 
all the assistance in their power to save the mon- 
archy. In addition to this it was rumored that 
Guadet had once made a midnight visit to Louis 
in the Tuileries; that, after the interview was 
over, the queen had with her own hands lighted 
a candle and taken Guadet into the bedroom of 
the dauphin to show him the little fellow fast 
asleep; and that Guadet, with tears in his eyes, 
had kissed the boy's forehead. 

The Jacobins, as keen politicians, took every 
advantage of the condition of affairs and used the 
stories in circulation to weaken the influence and 
the popularity of their opponents. 

Christmas, in the year of our Lord 1792, was 
anything but a merry season in the royal house- 
hold, for the 26th day of December had been fixed 
for the opening of the trial of Louis. ^ 

In many of its features- the trial was a farce, 
a travesty on justice; it was neither solemn nor 
impressive; force, intimidation, and fear effected 
his conviction. The proceedings in the- Con- 

1 See " Danton and the French Revolution," p. 334. 
249 



ROBESPIERRE 

vention were noisy and riotous; instead of a 
court, it seemed to be a cavern of furies, or an 
amphitheatre filled with wild beasts, into which 
had been thrown a victim to be torn to pieces. 
Howling mobs of men and women, drunk with 
wine and vengeance, invaded the galleries and 
the lobbies of the hall and demanded the king's 
death. No matter how grievous may have been 
the charges that were preferred against Louis, 
the method of his conviction was a crime. 

His doom was sealed by the cowardice of the 
Girondins, who, against their real convictions and 
as a matter of self-preservation and political 
necessity, voted for his execution. By this con- 
duct they brought upon themselves the contempt 
of their enemies and lost much of their popularity 
in the provinces. Many of them first voted to 
submit the matter to the sanction of the people, 
and yet, when the ballot was taken on the final 
and all-important question, these same men voted 
for the king's death. Conduct so inconsistent 
required explanation. The political party that 
apologizes for its action abdicates its power. 

While the trial was in progress, Robespierre 
received information that Madame Campan had 
in her possession some papers and a number of 
letters consigned to her care by the king. In 
the attempt made by Robespierre to verify this 
information, Madame Campan got a hint of his 
purpose and without delay destroyed every trace 
of the documents. Some royal seals that had 
been entrusted to her custody she threw forth- 
with into the Seine. 

250 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

The execution of the king ^ was the signal for 
a general war; it aroused all Europe, and the 
armies were at once put in motion. 

Dumouriez ^ won a victory at Jemappes and 
straightway began conspiring against the revo- 
lutionary government, but the defeat of a por- 
tion of his main army under Miranda and his 
own overthrow at Neerwinden on March i8, 
1793, shattered his hopes. 

In the beginning of April, 1793, when the 
treasonable designs of Dumouriez had been laid 
bare and when the Assembly had sent out com- 
missioners to arrest him, Lasource, a Girondin, 
thought it wise, in order to throw off the sus- 
picion that shadowed his own party, to question 
Danton as to his connections with the traitorous 
general. It was mean and hypocritical conduct 
and received in the sequel the rebuke it deserved. 

Lasource was an accomplished orator, and his 
insinuations spoken in a cool, cutting tone stung 
Danton to the quick. The charges, too, were a 
surprise coming from so unexpected a source ; 
besides they were absolutely without any founda- 
tion, and Danton could hardly retain his seat 
during the attack. His lip curled with scorn, his 
cheeks flushed, and his eyes flashed fire, while 
the chamber listened and watched with breath- 
less interest. The Girondins, little appreciating 
the mistake that was being made, smiled at his 
discomfiture, and the Mountain waited anxiously 
for the result. When Lasource ceased speaking 

1 See " Danton and the French Revolution," p. 343. 

2 Ibid., p. 191. 

251 



ROBESPIERRE 

Danton " descended from the Mountain like a 
lava flood," mounted the tribune at a leap, and 
in a torrent of invective poured forth his wrath. 
Never was he more defiant in his attitude, more 
terrible in his anger, and more impressive in hi^ 
eloquence. " The wretches," he cried, " they 
would throw their crimes on us. You were 
right, friends of the Mountain, and I was wrong; 
there is no peace possible with these men. Let it 
be war! They will not save the Republic with 
us, it shall be saved without them; saved in spite 
of them. I move onwards to the Republic, let 
us march together; we shall see whether we or 
our foul detractors first attain the goal." 

When Danton came down from the tribune 
he was received with open arms by the Mountain, 
Robespierre and Marat leading in the greeting. 

Danton at first, as we have seen, opposed war, 
but finding it inevitable he gave it his most ear- 
nest and loyal support, and it was mainly through 
his influence that Dumouriez was named the suc- 
cessor of La Fayette. The early successes of 
Dumouriez induced Danton to believe that he 
was the right man in the right place. Therefore 
when Dumouriez proved himself a traitor, Dan- 
ton, having been so closely identified with the 
general, was suspected of treason in many quar- 
ters, and for a time lost much of his popularity. 
But in fact there was no reason in the world to 
doubt his integrity and his loyalty to the Repub- 
lic. The Girondins, too, fell under suspicion be- 
cause Dumouriez had been classed as one of their 
faction ; but, when they endeavored to save them- 

252 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

selves at the expense of Danton, their purpose 
was so transparent that the attack recoiled on 
themselves and they never recovered from the 
blow. 

When Dumouriez found his plans were discov- 
ered, he hurried into the camp of the Austrians, 
and offered his services against his country. The 
traitor was welcomed but despised, and shortly 
afterwards he threw up his commission and 
found an asylum in Amsterdam. 

Dumouriez was not only a soldier, but quite 
a clever politician. While in Paris he played his 
game very adroitly and was a great favorite not 
only with the Girondins but also with the Jaco- 
bins. Before he set out for his campaign in Bel- 
gium, Collot d'Herbois in his enthusiasm, and 
perhaps as a further inducement to victory, told 
him that if he captured Brussels he would give 
him permission to kiss Madame d'Herbois, who at 
that time was sojourning in that city. The gen- 
eral, however, when he entered in triumph the 
Flemish capital, was so ungallant as not to avail 
himself of the privilege. 

Dumouriez had a ready wit. At the time it 
was rumored that he meditated a dictatorship, 
Camus, a deputy, addressing him said : " If 
thou dost intend to play the part of Caesar, re- 
member I will be Brutus and plunge a poniard 
into thy bosom." " My dear Camus," replied 
Dumouriez smiling, "I am no more like Caesar 
than thou art like Brutus, and an assurance that/ 
I should live till thou kill me would be equal to a ; 
brevet of immortality." 
^53 



ROBESPIERRE 

The Girondins, who had clamored for the war,' 
had to bear the blame for its reverses. They 
were responsible, too, for England's joining the 
coalition. Pitt did all in his power to avoid em- 
barking upon the war, but the opening of the 
Scheldt ^ by a decree of the Convention, a thing 
right in the abstract but most imprudent from a 
political point of view, so provoked the English 
people that Pitt had at last to yield to public 
opinion. This was but the beginning of a quar- 
ter of a century of carnage. England furnished 
subsidies to the allies, and covered the seas with 
her fleets, and was the most formidable enemy 
by all odds that France had in the coalition. 

The Girondins favored the war, hoping thereby 
to strengthen their faction, but how much better 
it would have been had Robespierre's advice 
been taken ; better not only for France but for all 
Europe, if by so doing a generation of warfare 
could have been avoided. 

Feeling their power waning in the capital, the 
Girondin orators continually in their speeches 
appealed to the provinces for protection, and 
even went so far as to threaten the destruction 
of Paris if the deputies of the Gironde were mo- 
lested. This was bold language, calculated to 
arouse the anger of the Parisians, for there is 
nothing so sensitive as the sentiment of a large 
city in relation to its importance. Especially 
may this be said of Paris, whose citizens, accord- 
ing to Mercier, believed the universe was seated 
on the banks of the Seine. " Paris," exclaimed 

1 See " Danton and the French Revolution," p. 316. 

254 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

Danton in one of his impassioned speeches, " is 
the natural and constituted centre of free France. 
It is the centre of hght. When Paris shall perish 
there will no longer be a republic." 

The Girondins were not well organized, they 
were divided among themselves into cliques, and 
they made so many political blunders that a num- 
ber of their members grew lukewarm in their al- 
legiance. They were losing ground daily, for 
a defeated party is like an army on the retreat, 
it has its deserters. They seemed at this time to 
have no intelligent management nor direction. 
They acted as if bewildered; they struck out 
right and left, but there was no force in their 
blows, and the only thing they accomplished was 
to increase the number and the bitterness of their 
enemies. In the language of a French historian : 
" They had created the Republic without wish- 
ing it and governed it without comprehending 
it." 

In the Convention they were continually mov- 
ing for the appointment of a committee to in- 
vestigate the September massacres. This was 
directly aimed at the Jacobins, but more espe- 
cially at Danton. Without being able to ac- 
complish anything in this direction they only 
further aroused the enmity of the radicals. 

Danton always had a lurking admiration for 
the Girondins; he believed they were honest and 
patriotic in their motives. Instead of cultivat- 
ing the friendship of a leader so powerful, how- 
ever, they time and again denounced and hu- 
miliated him. They disregarded his advice, and 
255 



ROBESPIERRE 

spurned his every offer of assistance. Du- 
mouriez, who was a far-seeing poHtician, told 
them they were making a grievous mistake ; but, 
Wind to their own danger, they paid no attention 
to his warnings. 

Among all their enemies, however, none pur- 
sued them more relentlessly than Robespierre, 
and he did more than any one man to effect their 
overthrow and expulsion from the Convention. 

Marat, too, had been unremitting in his at- 
tacks upon them, and at last they determined to 
retaliate. He had been preaching anarchistic 
doctrines, had even gone so far as to tell the 
mob that if they were hungry the baker and 
butcher shops were close at hand and that a man 
was a fool to starve in the sight of food. The 
canaille acted upon the suggestion of their leader, 
and bread and meat shops in all quarters of the 
city were plundered and sacked. 

On account of the violence induced by teach- 
ings so lawless, the Girondins instituted proceed- 
ings against Marat, and he was summoned to 
appear before the tribunal. 
; On April 22, 1793, he came to the bar with 
an army of hoodlums at his back. The purlieus 
of Paris furnished the cohorts, and it seemed as 
if the lower regions had sent forth a legion of 
foul spirits to defend the cause of an archangel 
of darkness. This body of retainers, vociferous 
and loyal, soon induced the court, which was 
friendly to the prisoner, to make short work 
of the case. The accused was acquitted without 
delay and was then borne in triumph on the 
256 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

shoulders of the mob through the streets of the 
city, the rabble all the while dancing to their 
own wild music the intoxicating " Carnmgnole." 

Marat ought to have been sent to jail; there 
was every reason for his prosecution and pun- 
ishment, but the Girondins should have known 
that it was impossible to secure a conviction un- 
der the circumstances before such a court. 

It was about this time the Convention changed 
its quarters. When the Assembly moved to 
Paris from Versailles, in 1789, it occupied the 
Menage, a building that had formerly been used 
as a riding-school by the nobility. It was a large 
structure, and was hastily fitted up for the pur- 
pose of accommodating the legislature. David, 
the artist of the Revolution, applied his skill in 
improving the appearance of the hall and in 
providing conveniences. At a later period, the 
walls were covered with the notices that were 
posted throughout the city at the time of the re- 
turn of Louis from Varennes : " Whoever 
cheers him will be beaten: whoever insults him 
will be hanged " ; " Hats on the head, he is going 
to pass before his judges " ; " He has hung fire ; 
it is the nation's turn to shoot now." It was in 
this vast dim and dingy hall that the king was 
arraigned and tried. 

The new home of the Convention was in the 
palace of the Tuileries. The royal family had 
been dispossessed of the palace on the loth of 
August, 1792, but it was not until the loth 
of May, 1793, that the Convention began hold- 
ing its sessions in this historic building. This 
17 257 



ROBESPIERRE 

was a more pretentious habitation for the Assem- 
bly than the Menage, and was called the palace 
of the nation. The hall where the delegates as- 
sembled had been used formerly for theatrical 
entertainments, and was reached by a grand stair- 
case leading from the garden. 

It does seem to be more than a mere coinci- 
dence that the halls occupied by the National As- 
sembly should have been a tennis court at Ver- 
sailles, and a riding academy and afterwards a 
theatre in Paris, places that had been exclusively 
devoted to the amusements of royalty and the 
nobility. The Revolution was full of strange 
and stern contrasts. 

At the entrance of the hall, soldiers, designated 
the grenadiers of the Convention, were contin- 
ually on guard. The hall itself in which the 
Convention met was a large room, capable of 
holding comfortably 2,000 people, but in times 
of excitement and insurrection twice that many 
crowded within its walls. 

The seats for the delegates were arranged, as 
in the Menage, in the form of an amphitheatre. 
On one of the long sides of the room were nine- 
teen semicircular benches rising one behind the 
other without tables or desks. If a deputy wished 
to write, his knee was called into requisition as 
a support for his paper. The members sat, as a 
rule, with their hats on. The president occupied 
a large armchair on a platform located midway 
between the two ends of the horseshoe formed 
by the amphitheatre. On his table were a big 
bronze bell and a large brass or copper inkstand. 

258 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

The bar of the Convention was on the right hand 
of the president; it was here that the accused were 
arraigned. 

When a member wished to address the body, 
he obtained permission from the chair, and then 
ascended the tribune or rostrum, which was lo- 
cated near or in front of the platform of the 
presiding ofificer. He did not speak "in place," 
as is the custom in the American Congress and 
the English Parliament. The tribune from 
which the orators addressed the Assembly was 
reached by nine steps that were " high, steep, and 
difficult to mount." Gensonne, the Girondin, in 
hastily going up the steps one day, stumbled and 
in an impatient manner exclaimed : " They are 
scaffold stairs." " Serve your apprenticeship 
then," cried out Carrier, amidst the shouts and 
laughter of the galleries and the Mountain. After 
ascending the tribune, the speakers addressed 
their colleagues, not the chair; votes were taken 
" par assis ct Icvc," that is, the deputies in voting 
for or against a motion rose from or retained 
their seats. There was one exception to this 
method, and that was at the trial of Louis XVL 
In this important case the '^ appel nominal " was 
adopted, when every deputy had to ascend the 
tribune and give his vote aloud, together with his 
reasons if he had any to present. The names of 
the delegates were called in the alphabetical order 
of the departments. 

There were ten compartments on each of the 
long sides of the wall above the amphitheatre of 
seats, and directly under the ceiling, called trib- 

259 



ROBESPIERRE 

unes or galleries, which were for the use of the 
people. Here, during the later days of the Revo- 
lution, gathered red-capped Jacobins and wild 
menads from the markets, who shouted their ap- 
plause and threats. The upper row of seats oc- 
cupied by the deputies was so close to these trib- 
unes that the spectators could converse with their 
representatives. At the ends of the room were 
large boxes on a line with the galleries; seats in 
these were set apart for invited, distinguished, or 
privileged guests. 

The hall at all times was gloomy, even dismal 
in appearance; light from the outside came 
through small windows, and at the night sessions 
under the dim glare of the lamps it was almost 
impossible to distinguish the delegates one from 
another across the chamber. There were a num- 
ber of pedestals bearing large candelabra, each 
with eight lamps, but they cast a ghastly light 
and were altogether insufficient for the illumina- 
tion of the hall. 

( On one of the walls, in a black wooden frame, 
was a placard nine feet high representing an open 
book, on the two pages of which was the " Dec- 
laration of the Rights of Man." At a later 
period, on the opposite wall in corresponding 
form, was placed the Constitution of the Year 
II of the Republic. The walls were also adorned 
with Roman fasces. Gigantic statues of ancient 
philosophers and law-givers, among them Lycur- 
gus, Solon, and Plato, occupied conspicuous sit- 
uations. There was. also a large, impressive fig- 
ure of Liberty. In front of the tribune was a 
260 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

bust of Lepelletier Saint Fargeau, the deputy 
who had been assassinated in the Palais Royal 
by the life-guardsman Paris, for having voted 
for the death of the king. 

This was the hall of the Convention. A play- 
house where once royalty had watched and ap- 
plauded the tragic scenes of the mimic drama 
now was a theatre where in reality were enacted 
the bloody and thrilling events in one of the 
greatest tragedies that ever marked the world's 
history. 



26x 



CHAPTER XX 
Robespierre's reply to vergniaud — giron- 

DINS expelled from THE CONVENTION 

marat's assassination — trial and execu- 
tion OF charlotte CORDAY FESTIVAL OF 

AUGUST THE TENTH THE GREAT COMMIT- 
TEE. 

' The debates in the Convention grew hotter 
every day. The clashings between the two lead- 
ing factions in the struggle for political suprem- 
acy kept the house in a constant turmoil, to the 
exclusion of matters in which the real welfare of 
the people was concerned. 

As the disasters in the field accumulated and 
the internal troubles increased, Paris, instead of 
showing a spirit of submission, only intensified 
its revolutionary fury. In the face of impending 
danger the Jacobins in the Convention urged the 
most extreme measures. They proposed a forced 
contribution from the rich to defray the expenses 
of the government, and even favored the seizure 
of the carriages of the wealthy to convey the 
soldiers to the seat of war, and the confiscation of 
their horses to drag the artillery and to carry the 
troopers into battle. It was claimed that in time 
of peril everything belonged to the Republic. If 
262 "^ 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

the poor gave their lives, v^hy should not the rich 
donate their possessions? 

Against these communistic doctrines the Giron- 
dins protested; they had favored the declaration 
of war, but they now strongly opposed the meth- 
ods urged by the Jacobins for its prosecution. 

The clubs rang nightly with denunciation of 
the members of the Gironde, and the mob, at one 
time to the number of 80,000, gathered during 
the sessions of the Convention outside of the hall 
and clamored for their accusation. 

On May 31, 1793, while Robespierre was in 
the tribune, Vergniaud interrupted him and asked 
leave to address the Convention. Robespierre, 
who was arguing upon the question of army re- 
organization, had just said in the course of his 
remarks: "No! We must purge the army. 
We must — " and then hesitated. Vergniaud, 
who was anxious to ascend the tribune, impa- 
tiently exclaimed : " Conclude then." " Yes," 
shrieked Robespierre, " I am going to conclude, 
and against you, who after the Revolution of 
the loth. of August would fain have sent to the 
scaffold its authors — against you who would 
have saved the tyrant — against you who have 
conspired with Dumouriez — against you who 
have pursued with bitterness the same patriots 
whose heads Dumouriez demanded — against 
you whose criminal vengeance has provoked the 
same cries of indignation which you make a 
charge upon your victim! Well, then, my con- 
clusion is a decree of accusation against all those 
denounced by the petitioners." 

263 



ROBESPIERRE 

This arraignment, which has the quality of real 
eloquence, resulted in the undoing of the Giron- 
dins, for twenty-one of their number were ar- 
rested on June 2, 1793, and expelled from the 
Convention. It is this date that marks the be- 
ginning of the period known as the " Reign of 
Terror." 

There was no intention at this time to do more 
than to humiliate the Girondins; their execution 
was not even contemplated. They were allowed 
to go and come without interference ; in fact, they 
all could have returned to their provinces had 
they so desired. They were simply not permit- 
ted to take part in the deliberations of the Con- 
vention nor to attend its sessions. " Ce parti 
tomha," says Lamartine, " de faiblesse et d' inde- 
cision, conime le roi qu 'il avait remverse." — ■■ 
" This party fell from feebleness and indecision, 
as did the king whom it had overthrown." 

Deprived of their rights as national representa- 
tives, they chafed under this restriction and the 
drawing-rooms of the Roland mansion resounded 
with their wrath and eloquent denunciations. 

The provinces favorable to the Girondins 
flamed up, and at this point, any temporizing 
policy upon the part of the Convention would 
have thrown the country into the horrors of a 
civil war. Envoys were sent out into the disaf- 
fected districts and the rebellious were taught 
that any uprising against the Convention would 
be deemed treason against the Republic, and dealt 
with accordingly. 

Charlotte Corday, believing that Marat was 

~'~'"— 264 



.THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

responsible for all the ills that had befallen the 
Girondins, determined to avenge in her own 
way, their wrongs. She came to Paris, obtained 
an audience with Marat, and stabbed the wretch 
in his tub. His cry for help brought to his side 
his housekeeper and a young man who, in an 
adjoining room, had been folding newspapers. 
The latter knocked Charlotte down with a chair 
and stood over her until the gendarmes arrived. 
The news rang through the streets like an alarm 
of fire; a great crowd soon gathered, and it was 
with difficulty that the officers saved Charlotte 
from being torn to pieces. Through all the ex- 
citement she bore herself with a calm dignity and 
faced with resolution and intrepidity the wild 
mob that surged about her. 

Charlotte's story is a romance. She was a 
gentle, modest woman and had the honor of be- 
ing the granddaughter of the great dramatist 
Pierre Corneille. She had a mind of strong con- 
victions and sincerely believed that in striking 
down Marat she was serving the real interests of 
her country ; but alas ! " her poniard only opened 
anew the veins of France." 

She stood her trial with composure, accepted 
her doom with heroic fortitude, and faced death 
without a tremor. She went to the scaffold 
robed in a scarlet smock. After the guillotine 
had done its work, the executioner lifted up the 
severed head, showed it to the people, and then 
" struck the cheek insultingly," for which inhu- 
man act the authorities sent him to gaol. 

Her martyrdom was a foolish and. useless sac- 
265 



ROBESPIERRE 

rifice, for her act doomed her friends to destruc- 
tion. " She has ruined us," said Vergniaud, 
" but she has taught us how to die." 

The death of Marat removed from the stirring 
scenes of the Revolution one of its most vehe- 
ment partisans. Made bitter by persecution, he 
had grown unreasonable, abusive, and violent in 
his opposition to all those persons and factions 
that he considered were enemies to the Revolu- 
tion ; his policy was to suspect those who assumed, 
secured, or strove for power, and his constant 
cry of warning to the people was, " Nous sommes 
traish " — " We are betrayed." 

Many prominent leaders of the radicals, doubt- 
less, experienced a quiet satisfaction when the 
doctor was laid away, for he had become so 
ferocious in temper and so suspicious of even his 
friends that no one felt safe from his attacks. 

Robespierre especially had watched with a 
jealous eye the growing popularity of Marat, and 
although he expressed a profound grief at his 
sudden death he could have had no real heartfelt 
regrets. 

(At the Jacobins', when memorial services were 
held and when it was proposed to bury Marat 
with a pompous funeral, Robespierre declared 
that instead of paying fulsome laudation to the 
dead the way to avenge his loss was to bring 
destruction to his enemies. This was a covert 
accusation of the Girondins. " If I speak this 
day," said Robespierre, " it is because I have a 
right to do so. You talk of daggers — they are 
waiting for me, I have merited them, and it is 
266 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

but the effect of chance that Marat has been 
struck down before me. I have a right, there- 
fore, to interfere in the discussion and I do so to 
express my astonishment that your energy should 
here waste itself in empty declamation and that 
you should think of nothing but vain pomp. The 
best way of avenging Marat is to prosecute his 
enemies without mercy. The vengeance which 
seeks to satisfy itself by empty honor is soon ap- 
peased, and never thinks of employing itself in a 
more real and more useful manner. Desist then 
from useless discussion, and avenge Marat in a 
manner more worthy of him." 

The Convention, notwithstanding the sugges- 
tions made by Robespierre at the Jacobins', de- 
creed that special honors should be shown the 
martyr, and in consequence the funeral of Marat ^ 
was one of the most impressive ever witnessed 
in Paris. Everything was done to excite the 
sympathies of the people. The corpse was ex- 
posed to public view and the ceremonies lasted 
from six o'clock in the evening until midnight. 
Greater honor could not have been accorded a 
dead Caesar. 

A year had gone by since the attack upon the 
Tuileries and in order to arouse the enthusiasm 
of the country it was decided to observe with 
appropriate ceremonies the anniversary of the 
loth of August. Deputies were sent to Paris 
from all the primary assemblies to take part in 
the event and to accept the Constitution in the 
name of all France. 

1 See " Danton and the French Revolution," p. 95. 
267 



ROBESPIERRE 

The reception given to the provincial envoys 
was cordial and generous in the extreme. They 
were warned by pubHc proclamation " to beware 
of those men who, covered with the mask of 
patriotism, would attempt to seduce them with 
fair words, while at heart they desired to tear 
the country to pieces ; to beware of the rich, who 
have at all times abhorred virtue and poisoned 
morals, and of those perverse women, seductive 
by their charms, who would lead them into vice." 
They were advised " to avoid the ci-devant Palais 
Royal, where these perfidious persons congregate. 
That famous garden was once the cradle of the 
Revolution, once the asylum of the friends of 
liberty, but now is the filthy drain of society, 
the haunt of villains, the den of all the conspira- 
tors." They were told to visit the faubourgs, 
where they would meet men active, simple and 
virtuous like themselves. Whether or not the 
unsophisticated countrymen visiting the gay cap- 
ital followed this wholesome counsel, may only 
be conjectured. 

During their stay in Paris, the Jacobins ex- 
tended to them the freedom of their hall and in- 
vited them to take part in the discussions. The 
society, which, as a rule, met every second day, re- 
solved to hold daily sessions in order to give full 
opportunity to consider the questions affecting 
the welfare of the whole country. 

A public reconciliation of the departments with 

Paris took place at the hall of the electors on 

the 7th of August, and afterwards the envoys 

visited the Convention in a body. Speeches were 

268 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

made — fervid, eloquent, and patriotic. Wrought 
up by the enthusiasm of the occasion, the 
members left their seats and threw themselves 
into the arms of the visitors, indulging in what 
was called a fraternal embrace. At last the en- 
voys marched out of the hall singing: 

" La Montague nous a sauves; 
En congediant Gensonne — 
Au diahle les Brissots, 
Les Vergniauds, les Buzots; 
Dansons la Carmagnole." ^ 

The envoys prepared an address assuring the 
departments that Paris had been calumniated by 
the enemies of the republic ; that the Marais ^ 
or Marsh, no longer existed, but that the Moun- 
tain would soon pour forth its fire upon all the 
royalists and the partisans of tyranny. 

When the paper was read at the Jacobins', 
it created the wildest excitement; a crowd of 
speakers rushed to the tribune, but they at once 
fell back when it was announced that Robespierre 
desired to address the meeting. His appearance 
in the tribune was the signal for applause. Many 
of the envoys up to this time had never seen or 
heard him and he was listened to with the closest 
attention. 

So wild and tumultuous had the meeting 
grown that it was feared by the wisest heads 

1 " The Mountain has saved us 
In dismissing Gensonne — 
To the devil with the Brissots, 
The Vergniauds, the Buzots; 
Let us dance the Carmagnole." 
2 See " Danton and the French Revolution," p. 286. 
269 



ROBESPIERRE 

that a mere suggestion might be enough to start 
the crowd upon the commission of some des- 
perate deed before the night was over. 

Robespierre, sharing in this fear, cautioned all 
the people present against committing any act of 
violence that might be taken advantage of by 
the enemies of the republic to injure its friends. 
He counseled moderation and warned them to 
beware of all the snares set by the foes of the 
Revolution. " Be calm, be firm," he said; " look 
the calamities of the country in the face without 
fear, and labor to save it." His wise words 
calmed the rising tumult, and after showering 
congratulations upon the orator, the meeting 
quietly dispersed. During the remainder of the 
sojourn of the envoys, Paris was quiet and or- 
derly. 

The celebration of the loth of August began 
with the dawn. Salvos of artillery, military re- 
views, eloquent addresses, fraternal greetings, 
processions of envoys and deputies, continued un- 
til sunset. While these ceremonies were taking 
place the allies were within a few days' march 
of the capital, but the threatening dangers 
seemed to unite all hearts and to increase the 
patriotic fervor. 

After the expulsion of the Girondins from the 
Convention every effort was put forth by the 
Jacobins to save the Revolution. 

The allied armies, elated with their successes, 
were pressing on all the frontiers, making prep- 
arations for a grand advance and promising to 
reach Paris in a fortnight. The emigrants were 
270 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

boasting- of returning to their possessions and 
threatened with dire vengeance all those who 
had compelled them to leave France. The Ven- 
dean peasants, still loyal to the crown and the 
Church, were rising in rebellion and, incited by 
the preaching of the priests, were beginning a 
crusade against the Revolution under the banner 
of the cross; other provinces were fretful, and 
several large cities were exhibiting a spirit of 
rebellion. 

The gloomy news that came to the capital 
from all quarters was enough to dishearten the 
bravest; but strong and energetic men seized the 
reins of government, inaugurated a reign of ter- 
ror, and menaced with death all those who fa- 
vored a reaction. The Jacobins, no longer 
harassed in the Convention by the Girondins, 
instead of wasting their time In declaration, fac- 
tional opposition, and political controversy, now 
devised schemes and projects for the vigorous 
prosecution of the war. 

The Revolution had gone so far and had re- 
ceived such an impetus that it could not halt 
without putting in jeopardy all it had secured or 
accomplished ; to reveal the slightest spirit of sub- 
mission meant its destruction; a reaction would 
be but a return to old conditions; there could be 
no compromise; the overthrow of the republic 
would result not only in the restoration of the 
monarchy but in the rehabilitation of the ancient 
regime. There was no common ground upon 
which the Revolution and its enemies could meet. 
It was a war to the death. 
271 



ROBESPIERRE 

Denounce as we may the methods of the Revo- 
lution, we can but admire the courage and the 
resolution of France in this supreme hour of 
her trial. No nation ever put forth more stu- 
pendous efforts to meet a crisis ; her courage was 
sublime as she faced, single-handed, combined 
Europe. England, Austria, Prussia, Holland, 
Spain, Portugal, the Two Sicilies, the Roman 
States, Sardinia and Piedmont were in the coali- 
tion, and while these foes assailed her from with- 
out, and civil war and all imaginable horrors 
raged within, she rose in her strength with a 
spirit invincible to allay her troubles at home 
and grapple with her enemies abroad. 

Livy relates that when Hannibal was outside 
of the walls of Rome and defiantly hurled his 
spear into the city, threatening its destruction, 
the Romans in utter contempt of his threats and 
to manifest their confidence in the final outcome, 
sold at public auction in the Forum the land 
upon which the army of Hannibal was encamped. 
The same bold and desperate spirit displayed by 
the Romans in the face of impending disaster, 
animated the Parisians when foreign hosts threat- 
ened the destruction of the capital. 

Paris was possessed by an intensified but a 
subdued excitement; every face wore an expres- 
sion of defiance and determination. " The peo- 
ple," writes Hugo, " lived in public ; they ate 
from tables spread in front of their doors; the 
women sat on church steps making lint and sing- 
ing the Marseillaise ; . . . there were smiths' 
shops in full blast at every crossing, making 
272 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

guns under the eyes of the passers-by, . . . 
Nobody seemed to have time enough ; everybody 
was in haste, not a hat without a cockade. 
Busts of FrankHn, Rousseau, Brutus, and Marat 
were everywhere. On every wall were placards 
— large, small, white, yellow, green, red, printed 
and written with the exclamation : ' Long live 
the Republic' " 

Everywhere was revealed the spirit of enthu- 
siasm and everything bore the features of the 
Revolution. Even the statues of saints and 
kings, left over from the monarchy, that adorned 
the faqades of the churches and the public build- 
ings, wore the Phrygian cap. 

The Convention ordered a levy of three hun- 
dred thousand men and imposed a forced loan 
of one thousand millions. 

The whole nation became a military camp, and 
every Frenchman able to bear arms was liable 
to be mustered into the ranks as a soldier. 

At this time the Committee of Public Safety, 
known as the Great Committee, was exercising 
extraordinary power and working with a resolu- 
tion born of desperation. It was organized 
April 6, 1793, and consisted of nine members, 
which number was increased to twelve in the 
summer of that year. 

(The committee held its sessions in a room of 
the Tuileries. To reach this council chamber, 
one had to pass through a long corridor dimly 
lighted by oil lamps. The room was still furnished 
with the clocks, the ornaments, the mirrors, and 
the tapestries which royalty left behind when the 
18 273 



ROBESPIERRE 

king- suddenly abandoned the palace on the loth 
of August, 1792. 

A long table covered with a green cloth stood 
in the centre of the room, around which table 
the members sat while transacting their business 
or deliberating upon public affairs. The sessions 
were held in secret. The committee was tireless 
in its energy; the members met in the morning 
at eight o'clock and worked until one ; they then 
attended the Convention until four. In the 
evening they again assembled and continued their 
labors far into the night; often the morning 
dawned before they separated. 

The committee was the head and the body of 
the government, all the other departments were 
but its limbs. It was a popular despotism estab- 
lished in a crisis to save the State; its tyranny 
was the price of liberty. " It has been said that 
terror is the mainspring of despotic government," 
declared Robespierre. " Does yours then resem- 
ble despotism ? Yes, as the sword that flashes in 
the hands of the heroes of liberty resembles that 
with which the satellites of tyranny are armed. 
The government of the Revolution is the despot- 
ism of freedom against tyranny." 

The committee was accountable to no one; it 
exercised every function of government. Its 
word was law and woe to the man who pro- 
voked its enmity, defied its commands, or fell 
under its suspicion. 

It was organized to meet extraordinary condi- 
tions, and not only did it repel invasion and sup- 
press civil war, but under its direction the 
274 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

Convention passed decrees providing internal reg- 
ulations and improvements. The law of the 
Maximum, which fixed the price beyond which 
wheat, flour, meat, and staple articles should not 
be sold, was enacted; strikes were prohibited; 
counterfeiters of assignats were punished; specu- 
lation was checked; the Stock Exchange was 
closed; land grants were made to wounded sol- 
diers; poor laws were adopted; the Normal 
School, the Conservatory of Arts, the Museum of 
Natural History, and the Polytechnic School were 
created; a method of compulsory education was 
introduced ; slavery in the colonies was abolished ; 
and the decimal system of weights and measures 
was fixed by statute. All these were valuable 
and timely measures. 

One of the most important results of the 
French Revolution was the welding together of 
the districts and provinces of France that had been 
antagonistic to each other. In order to effect 
this union, laws were made uniform, restrictions 
removed, local privileges abolished, and a na- 
tional sentiment created. To bring the people 
more closely together the Committee of Public 
Safety next decided to unite them in the use of a 
common tongue. 

The French language for centuries had been 
broken into many dialects, local patois abounded 
in the peasant districts, and in some departments 
even foreign tongues were spoken. To meet 
these conditions a report was drawn up by Barere, 
under instructions from the committee, and sub- 
mitted' to the Convention. This remarkable and 

275 



ROBESPIERRE 

interesting paper, eloquent in expression and re- 
vealing in every line the pride and arrogance 
resulting from a newly acquired freedom, read in 
part as follows : 

" We have revolutionized the government, the 
laws, the usages, manners, dress, commerce, and 
even thought itself. Let us also revolutionize the 
language which is the medium of our daily inter- 
course. 

" The committee suggests as an urgent and a 
revolutionary measure that there should be sent 
into each designated commune an instructor in 
the French language, whose duty shall be to teach 
the youth of both sexes and to read at each 
decade to all the other citizens of the commune 
the laws, the decrees, and the instructions sent 
by the Convention. Rome instructed her youth 
in the reading of the laws of the Twelve Tables. 
France will teach her citizens the French lan- 
guage in the reading of the Declaration of the 
Rights of Man. 

" While foreign peoples everywhere on the 
globe study the French tongue, while our news- 
papers circulate in all regions, while the ' Journal 
Universal ' and the ' Journal des Hommes Libres ' 
are read in the homes of all nations from pole 
to pole, shall it be said that in France six hun- 
dred thousand Frenchmen are absolutely igno- 
rant of the language of their native land and 
know neither the laws nor the purposes of the 
Revolution? 

" Our enemies have made of the French tongue 
the polite language of the courts; they have de- 
276 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

based it. It is for us to make it the language 
of the people that it may be honored. 

" It is a duty we owe to the republic to have 
the language in which is written the Declaration 
of the Rights of Man, the only language spoken 
in the territory of France." 

This report of the Great Committee having 
been submitted to the Convention, it was decreed 
that an instructor of the French language should 
be named in each commune in the departments 
of Morbihan, of Finisterre, of the Cotes du Nord, 
and in the Lower Loire, where the inhabitants 
spoke an idiom called Bas Breton; also in the de- 
partments of the Upper and the Lower Rhine, 
in the department of Corsica, in the department 
of Moselle, in the department of the North, of 
Mont Terrible, of the Maritime Alps and of the 
Lower Pyrenees, in which the inhabitants spoke 
a foreign tongue. 

The popular societies were urged to aid in the 
establishment of clubs for the oral translation of 
the decrees and of the laws of the republic, and 
in every way possible to multiply the means of 
making known the French language even in the 
most remote sections of the country. 

The Committee of Public Safety was author- 
ized to adopt every means that it believed neces- 
sary to carry this decree into effect. 

The power of the Great Committee reached 
out in every direction; there was nothing too 
small for it to consider, nothing too great for 
it to attempt, and the whole country felt the force 

and influence of its authority. 

277 



CHAPTER XXI 

EXECUTION OF MARIE ANTOINETTE TRIAL AND 

EXECUTION OF THE GIRONDINS EXECUTION 

OF MADAME ROLAND. 

In October, 1793, Marie Antoinette was guil- 
lotined ; her death was a happy deliverance from 
her troubles and humiliations. No one can 
sound the depth of agony through which her 
soul had passed. Her beauty gone, grown old 
and gray before her time, almost blind, wan in 
feature and emaciated in figure, she sat in sack- 
cloth and ashes and drank to the dregs the bitter 
cup of sorrow. 

One who saw her in the last days of her im- 
prisonment gives the following sad description of 
her appearance : " She was seated on a low stool 
mending a petticoat of coarse black serge. Herj 
garments were ragged, her shoes were worn, 
across her breast was pinned a white kerchief. 
She stooped like an old woman, her face was ' 
deathly pale, and we could see that under herj 
cap her hair was as white as snow." 

I By her extravagance and imprudent conduct 
she had centred upon herself the hatred of the 
people. All the mistakes that Louis had made 
were attributed to her councils. Barere, in his 
Memoirs, declares : " The sway she gained over 
278 ^ 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

the king rendered her despotic and her influence 
in public affairs was fatal." 
■ She paid, however, the full penalty for all her 
errors; her worst and most unforgiving enemy 
ought not to have wished it heavier, and when 
everything is taken into consideration, all her sins 
did not merit a punishment so severe. Even the 
austere St. Just, in commenting upon her, said : 
," She was deceived rather than deceiving, 
thoughtless rather than guilty; entirely devoted 
to pleasure, she seemed not to reign in France 
but at Trianon." 

On her way to the scaffold she was jeered and 
howled at by the women from the slums; old 
hags followed the cart and ridiculed her, but she 
was apparently oblivious to all insult and derision 
and went to execution with that composure that 
marks the conduct of one tired of life. To no 
person was death ever more welcome. 

The Girondins soon followed in her wake. It 
was expected that they would make an eloquent 
and a heroic defence when arraigned at the bar 
of the Revolutionary Tribunal, for among them 
were some of the greatest orators and some of 
the ablest lawyers in France. It was thought 
that Vergniaud would thunder against his ac- 
cusers, confound the witnesses, and with his over- 
powering eloquence perhaps move to mercy even 
the stony hearts of his inexorable judges. But 
from the very start the accused knew they were 
doomed, and they bowed their heads to the in- 
evitable. The trial lasted for a week, the pro- 
ceedings were noisy and tumultuous, and con- 

279 



ROBESPIERRE 

ducted without any regard for judicial decorum, 
dignity, or fairness. 

Fouquier Tinville, the public prosecutor,^ dis- 
regarding every principle of decency and fair 
play, plagued the prisoners with insolent ques- 
tions and irritated them beyond endurance by 
the introduction of false and irrelevant testi- 
mony. This creature who was dead to every 
sentiment of justice cannot better be described 
than by the words in which Macaulay pictured 
that brutal barrister of the Old Bailey, George 
Jeffreys, afterwards Lord Chancellor of England. 
" Impudence and ferocity sat upon his brow, 
while all tenderness for the feelings of others, 
all self-respect, all sense of the becoming were 
obliterated from his mind. He had a forehead 
of brass and a tongue of venom." 

With a prejudicial court and a relentless prose- 
cutor, the Girondins had no opportunity to set 
up a legal and an orderly defence. Immediately 
upon the rendition of the verdict, Valaze drew a 
dirk from his pocket and stabbed himself to the 
heart, falling dead in the midst of his compan- 
ions. This act, however, did not cheat the guil- 
lotine of its victim, for the inexorable tribunal 
directed that the corpse should be decapitated; 
and, on the day set apart for the execution of the 
Girondins, the body was carried in a tumbril to 
the scaffold and beheaded. The Revolution like 
a vampire was sucking the blood even of the 
dead. 

After the conviction of the Girondins, their 

^See "Danton and the French Revolution," p. 410. 
280 





From an engraving in the collection of William J. Latta, Esq. 
After a painting by Raffet 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

friends made every effort to save them, but with- 
out avail. Garat, minister of the Interior, be- 
sought Robespierre to exert his influence in their 
behalf; but in answer to the entreaties of the 
minister, Robespierre impatiently replied : " Do 
not speak of it again. I cannot save them. 
There are periods in revolutions when to live is 
a crime and when men must know how to sur- 
render their heads when demanded. And mine 
also will perhaps be required of me. You shall 
see if I dispute it." 

The Girondins went to execution with fortitude 
after the manner of the ancient heroes of whom 
they were always prating. Taking them all in 
all, they were actuated by the highest and the 
purest motives in their desire to effect the estab- 
lishment of an ideal government ; but " they 
might as well have attempted to found the cap- 
ital on a bottomless and quaking marsh as their 
pretended republic in a country like France." 

Marat had pursued them relentlessly, and his 
ceaseless attacks in the columns of his paper had 
destroyed their popularity. His death, since 
they were charged with having instigated it, 
brought upon them the hatred of the mob who 
eagerly clamored for their execution. 

After Marat's assassination Robespierre fought 
them bitterly and he never ceased his opposition 
for a moment until he brought them to the scaf- 
fold. His real vindictiveness was never so dis- 
played as in this instance. " All those deputies 
of the Gironde," said he, " those Brissots, those 
Louvets, those Barbaroux are counter-revolu- 

38l 



ROBESPIERRE 

tionists, conspirators." He hated them because 
they stood for the wealthy middle classes, and he 
believed that they favored a return to the mon- 
archy. " Who are our enemies? " he asked, and 
then answered his own question : " The vicious 
and wealthy." Again he said : " Our internal 
perils arise from the middle class; to overcome 
that class we must rally the people. Everything 
was prepared for subjecting the people to the 
yoke of the middle class ; that class has triumphed 
at Marseilles, at Bordeaux, at Lyons; it would 
have triumphed at Paris but for the present in- 
surrection. This insurrection must continue, the 
people must ally themselves with the Convention, 
and the Convention must make use of the people. 
The insurrection must spread gradually on the 
same plan, the lower classes must be paid to re- 
main in the cities, they must be furnished with 
arms, enraged, enlightened." This was govern- 
ment with the mob supreme. Robespierre saw in 
the middle class that spirit of conservatism that 
was antagonistic to the principles of the Revo- 
lution, a conservatism with an aristocratic tend- 
ency that favored a return to old conditions. 
This was why he so strenuously opposed the 
Girondins. 

,.iThe truth was they were ardent republicans 
and believed firmly in popular government; they 
advocated not an aristocracy of wealth, but of 
intellect. " To this devoted band of men, whose 
whole career was justice and virtue," writes 
Belloc, " no one has dared to be contemptuous, 
and history on every side has left them heroes. 
282 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

They were own brothers to the immortal group 
that framed the American Constitution, and 
worthy to defend and at last to give their lives 
for the republican idea. They hated the shed- 
ding of blood; they tested every action by the 
purest standard of their creed, and from the first 
speeches in which they demanded war, to the 
day when they sang the Marseillaise on the scaf- 
fold, they did not swerve an inch from the path 
which they had set before themselves." 

As much as we may admire the lofty purposes 
of the Girondins, we must on the other hand pity 
and condemn them for their insensate course and 
foolish policies. They seemed, at times, to pos- 
sess no practical wisdom and no political fore- 
sight. They had taken a hand in the attack upon 
the Tuileries, they had urged the destruction of 
the throne and the establishment of the republic ; 
but, as was natural with men of their fine sen- 
sibilities, they turned away with aversion from 
the cruelty of the September Massacres. Fool- 
ishly they wasted their time in the Convention 
by moving investigations and by indulging in 
personal recriminations. Timidly and against 
their better judgment, they voted for the king's 
death and thus lost the respect that only valor 
commands. 

Feeling that the Revolution was getting be- 
yond them, they endeavored to check it by creat- 
ing a reactionary sentiment ; but their conduct 
was that of men bewildered by events and over- 
whelmed by the consequences of their own acts. 

Instead of uniting their forces in an effort to 
283 



ROBESPIERRE 

establish a strong government and repel invasion, 
they became mere partisans and fought for fac- 
tional supremacy. They menaced their enemies 
with vengeance and the scaffold when they were 
without power to enforce their threats. 
^--i As we have heretofore seen, they bitterly as- 
■ sailed Robespierre and foolishly insulted and 
humiliated Danton, whom they could have se- 
cured as a friend ; by a useless and fruitless pros- 
ecution, they made Marat an implacable enemy 
and incurred the hatred of the mob. They ar- 
rayed the provinces against the capital and threat- 
ened it with destruction. They aroused an 
insurrectionary spirit in Caen, Bordeaux, Mar- 
seilles, and Lyons, and this they did within sound 
of the foot-beat of advancing foreign hosts. 

They are to blame, indirectly at least, for many 
of the evils that befell France. They had, as 
we have already seen, fomented the war, opened 
the Scheldt,^ and forced England into the coali- 
tion. Failing to carry the war to a successful 
issue and being responsible for its disasters, they 
had to give way to stronger and more energetic 
men who, to save the country from destruction 
and to secure the results of the Revolution, in- 
augurated the " Reign of Terror." 
^J. Taking advantage of the dissensions between 
the factions. La Vendee rose in rebellion, and 
it was not until the insurgent forces of Paris 
drove the Girondins out of the Convention that 
the Jacobin government was enabled to weld the 
nation together, subdue the insurrections in the 

1 See "Danton and the French Revolution," p. 316. 
2S4 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

provinces, and by an effort that seemed almost 
superhuman, repulse the foreign invaders. 
Q Madame Roland ^ could not escape the fate 
of her friends, and she was soon brought before 
the Tribunal. She bore herself with composure 
and great dignity in the presence of the court. 
She spoke with earnestness and spurned with in- 
dignation certain charges and insinuations. The 
audience at this period were permitted to take 
part in the proceedings and often bandied words 
with the judges as well as with the witnesses and 
prisoners. Time and again during the progress 
of her trial, Madame Roland was interrupted and 
often silenced by the galleries, but through all 
the ordeal she displayed a remarkable coolness 
and self-possession. It is stated that when con- 
demned she rose and, bowing to the judges, said : 
" I thank you for considering me worthy to share 
the fate of the good and great men whom you 
have already sacrificed." 

In the early days of her imprisonment, before 
her trial, she grew despondent, but she soon be- 
came reconciled to her situation, and as time ran 
on her spirits revived and she resolved to accept 
stoically whatever fate had in store for her. She 
had known and encouraged Robespierre in his 
early career and she was induced to believe that 
a personal request to him might save her life. 
The Revolution that they both had so ardently 
embraced had carried one to the summit of 
power, the other to the depths of despair. 

After having written a letter, which under 

* See " Danton and the French Revolution," p. 178. 
285 



ROBESPIERRE 

an appearance of pride only half concealed a 
cry for mercy, she could not make up her mind to 
send it, for it would have placed her under ob- 
ligations to one who had persecuted her friends 
to the death, and who had shattered all her idols. 
She impulsively tore it up, as she had impul- 
sively written it, but she subsequently gathered 
the pieces and they were found among her pa- 
pers after her death. The haughty spirit could 
not bend and ask mercy from one whose gen- 
erosity, had he granted her request, could never 
have been repaid with real gratitude. 

The letter, however, would have made no im- 
pression upon Robespierre; he was too closely 
identified with the Revolution to save any of its 
victims. No recollection of past favors, no ties 
of former friendship, could have induced him to 
run the risk of forfeiting his popularity. 

Madame Roland, at one time during her im- 
prisonment, decided to anticipate her fate and 
for this purpose obtained a dose of poison. She 
wrote tender and sympathetic letters to her hus- 
band and daughter, asking them to forgive her 
for disposing of a life she had consecrated to 
them; but upon second thought she threw the 
potion away and destroyed the letters. 
.- .As the day of execution approached, she dis- 
played the greatest courage. She had played a 
strong hand in the game of the Revolution and 
had lost, and she bravely paid forfeit with her 
head. " She mounted the scaffold like a queen 
ascending the throne." A more picturesque dis- 

286 



.THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

play of heroic fortitude was never witnessed in 
the world's most tragic scenes. 

One of the characteristic features of the French 
Revolution was the nonchalant manner in which 
the victims of its vengeance met their doom. 
The condemned went to execution with such an 
abandon that death was seemingly stripped of its 
horrors. It was either with an air of bravado 
or with a spirit of resignation that most men 
and women mounted the scaffold. If they had 
fought and shrieked and struggled against their 
doom as did Madame Du Barry when she was 
carted through the streets, the prisoners would 
have revealed the horrors of death and made 
the scenes attendant upon the executions more 
terrible, and perhaps a sentiment might have 
been created against permitting the repetition of 
public spectacles so shocking and heart-rending. 



287 



CHAPTER XXII 

DANTON GROWS WEARY OF SLAUGHTER — 

ROBESPIERRE REBUKES CAMILLE ROBES- 

SPIERRE DEFENDS DANTON — COUTHON — ST. 
JUST. 

King and queen were beheaded, the monarchy 
was destroyed, the nobility had fled, the aristo- 
crats and suspected persons were silenced, exiled 
or massacred, the Girondins were executed; 
surely it was time to cease the slaughter and to 
restore order. The country had been sufficiently 
cleared for the establishment of a stable govern- 
ment. The republic had been founded, and now 
the time and the opportunity were at hand to 
unite all factions and interests in order to 
strengthen its foundations. But the Revolution 
was yet insatiable, the tumbrils were rolling on 
their way almost hourly to the scaffold. The 
Mountain was supreme ; it towered far above the 
Plain; that terrible Mountain out of which 
belched fire and down the sides of which ran 
blood. 

Danton believed it was time that this whole- 
sale slaughter should cease, and exclaimed : " Let 
us leave something to the guillotine of opinion." 
He had been much affected by the execution of 
the Girondins; he looked upon their death as 
288 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

nothing less than political assassination and he 
declared that if this sanguinary spirit was to be 
kept alive it would result in a war of extermina- 
tion among the factions. " Do you not know," 
he said, " at the pace we are going there will 
speedily be no safety for any person? The best 
patriots are being confounded heedlessly with 
traitors. Blood shed by generals on the field of 
battle does not spare them from spilling the rest 
on the scaffold." 

Strange that, if in his opinion this slaughter 
was to continue, he did not provide for his own 
and his party's safety. His energy seemed to 
leave him, he dallied away his time at his old 
home, Arcis-sui--Aube, and appeared to be in- 
different to the events taking place in the capital. 
His friends endeavored to arouse him out of his 
stupor. His change of mind and conduct was 
taken by his enemies as an indication of treason. 
For a man who had be€n so energetic in his 
leadership and so pronounced in his views, sud- 
denly to become supine and apparently indif- 
ferent, would naturally create suspicion. A rev- 
olutionist could not stop in those days ; he had 
to keep up in the march or be looked upon as a 
deserter. 

Desmoulins, influenced by the stand that Dan- 
ton had taken, began a series of very ably 
written articles in his journal calling for a reac- 
tion, for the restoration of peace. He never 
wrote with greater force, and his appeals for 
clemency were reaching the hearts of the people. 
Robespierre, who saw in these articles an anti- 
19 a89 



ROBESPIERRE 

revolutionary sentiment, called Desmoulins to 
account and even suggested the burning of his 
paper. " To burn is not to answer," said Ca- 
mille. " Do you then presume to justify writ- 
ings that form the favorite reading of the aris- 
tocracy?" asked Robespierre. "Listen, Camille, 
were you other than you are, so much favor and 
indulgence as you have experienced would not be 
shown you." " You condemn me here," repHed 
Camille, " but in your own house your senti- 
ments were differently expressed." " You 
showed me only portions of what you had writ- 
ten," rejoined Robespierre. The interview was 
warm, but the men parted apparently as friends. 

Lacretelle declares that Danton went into re- 
tirement at the instance of Robespierre, who ad- 
vised him to withdraw from public view for a 
time, for the reason that a tempest was brewing, 
and that the Jacobins had not forgotten his rela- 
tions with Dumouriez; that they did not like 
his manners, his voluptuous and lazy habits, 
which were at variance with their energy. 
" Withdraw for a season," said Robespierre ; 
" trust to a friend who will watch over your dan- 
gers and warn you of the first moment to re- 
turn." It hardly seems possible that Danton 
acted on this advice when he sought rest and 
seclusion in his old home at Arcis-sur-Aube, for 
it must be borne in mind that he was enjoying 
the delights of a honeymoon at the time. 

Danton, when he declared for peace and clem- 
ency, did so because he thought that violence 
should cease when the danger was over; he be- 
290 




CEORGES COUTHOX 



From an engraving in the collection of William J. Latta, Esq. 
After a painting by Ducreux 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

lieved in terror only as a means to effect an 
end, and thought that when the purpose was ac- 
compHshed the terror should cease. 

; During his absence his enemies had been at 
work putting into circulation all sorts of stories 
about his fabulous wealth, and upon his return 
he boldly faced his accusers in the Convention. 
Mounting the tribune he challenged them to bring 
forward their charges. " Am I no longer the 
same man who was at your side in every critical 
moment? Am I no longer the man whom you 
have so often embraced as your friend and with 
whom you swore to die in the same dangers? 
Have I then lost those features which character- 
ize the face of a free man? You will be sur- 
prised, when I make you acquainted with my 
private conduct, to see that the prodigious for- 
tune which my enemies claim I have amassed 
dwindles down to the very small portion of prop- 
erty which I have always possessed. I defy 
malice to furnish any proof against me." 

At the conclusion of Danton's speech, Robes- 
pierre hurried to the tribune and exclaimed : " If 
Danton demands an investigation into his con- 
duct and thinks it will be serviceable to him, I 
for one do not object to comply with his request. 
If he wishes the crimes with which he is charged 
specified, I shall enumerate them. Danton, thou 
art accused of having emigrated, of having gone 
to Switzerland laden with the spoils of thy cor- 
ruption, with having fled in dismay from the peo- 
ple's wrath. It has been alleged that thou wert 

at the head of a conspiracy to enthrone Louis 
291 



ROBESPIERRE 

XVII with the understanding that thou wert to 
act as regent. 

" Knowest thou not that the more courage and 
patriotism a man possesses the more intent are 
the enemies of the pubhc weal upon his destruc- 
tion ? " Then, turning to the Convention, he 
said : " I may be mistaken in Danton, but I 
have seen him in his family; he deserves noth- 
ing but praise. In his political relations I have 
watched him; he was slow, I admit, to suspect 
Dumouriez, he did not hate Brissot and his 
accomplices cordially enough, but if he did not 
always agree with me, am I to conclude that he 
betrayed the country? No, I always saw him 
serve it with zeal. Danton wishes to be tried. 
He is right; let me be tried too, and if any one 
has anything to allege against Danton let him 
come forward." 

No one answered this challenge, and amidst 
great applause Danton was given the fraternal 
embrace. 

{ Robespierre could well afford to take this 
stand ; it was apparently kindly conduct upon his 
part, but he well knew that the popularity of Dan- 
ton was all but extinct; no one now feared his 
power; the giant had slumbered while his ene- 
mies toiled; they had bound him with cords and 
had shorn him of his strength. 

The manly conduct of Robespierre in coming 
to the assistance of Danton called forth much 
praise. 

During this period the confidential friends and 

advisers of Robespierre were Couthon and St. 

292 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

Just; so closely identified were these three men 
in their interests that they formed a party by 
themselves, and were called " the triumvirate." 
From the very beginning of their alliance they 
never wavered in their allegiance to each other, 
and no changes in the fortunes of Robespierre 
ever moderated the loyalty and devotion of these 
stalwart friends. 

Georges Couthon was in full and active prac- 
tice as a lawyer when the Revolution began. His 
family was of the well-to-do middle class. 

In 1783, his lower limbs were stricken with 
paralysis, but that terrible affliction did not in 
the least degree diminish his energy. He is said 
to have been a person of an engaging aspect and 
a noble presence. " His countenance bespoke: 
gentleness but his devilish creed of terror steeled 
him against mercy." 

He was sent as a deputy to the Legislative As- 
sembly, and soon became an influential member 
of that body. He was a speaker of much force, 
and he took part not only in the debates of the 
Convention, but also at the Club of the Jacobins. 
Attaching himself to Robespierre he became a 
member of the Committee of Public Safety. 
Sent with several other deputies to Lyons to 
quell the insurrection in that rebellious city, it 
was soon brought to subjection by the application 
of drastic measures ; and when its destruction 
was decreed, he had himself carried to the public 
square and with great solemnity ordered the 
work of demolition to begin. Armed with a 
hammer he struck the first blow on the doomed 
293 



ROBESPIERRE 

buildings, and repeated in each instance the 
words : " I condemn thee in the name of the 
law." 

('As the Revolution progressed, his radicalism 
increased. He demanded the impeachment o£ 
all the kings of the earth, denounced Pitt as an 
enemy of the human race, and the English na- 
tion as a traitor to humanity. 

He possessed a sort of grim humor, for upon 
one occasion, towards the close of his career, 
when the air was filled with all sorts of rumors 
in relation to dictatorships, he was charged by 
an irate orator with aspiring to mount the throne. 
" Mount the throne," he shouted, " how can I 
mount anything with these legs ? " 

Antoine Louis Leon Florette de St. Just was, 
taking his youth into consideration, a most ex- 
traordinary man. 

He was born August 25, 1767, at Decize. His 
father had been an officer in the cavalry and for 
bravery on the field had been made a member of 
the royal and military order of St. Louis; but 
notwithstanding his aristocratic associations St. 
Just became from the very start a most pro- 
nounced and rabid revolutionist. "II execrait 
la noblesse/' says Barere, " autant qu 'il aimait 
le peuple." — " He execrated the nobility as much 
as he loved the people." 

He was educated in the College of the Ora- 
torians at Soissons, from which institution he 
was graduated with honor, being distinguished 
for high scholarship. Adopting the law as his 
profession, he suddenly abandoned his prepara- 
294 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

tory studies and returned to his mother's home 
with the intention of devoting himself to a Ht- 
erary career. He stole the family jewels and 
fled to Paris, where he was arrested and impris- 
oned for six months. His defence was that he 
had as much right to this property as his mother. 

After his release from prison he published a 
poem entitled " Organt " ; it is worthless as a lit- 
erary production, being a mere imitation of Vol- 
taire's " La Pucelle." 

In 1792 he was sent from the province of 
Nivernais as a deputy to the Convention. He 
made an impression on that body at once and 
took a conspicuous part in its deliberations. 

A work which he had written, entitled " Esprit 
de la Revolution et de la Constitution de France," 
had attracted considerable attention throughout 
the kingdom, so that when he came to Paris he 
was not unknown. Barras relates, in his 
Memoirs, that the first edition was sold out in a 
few days after its publication, and that it made 
for its author a great reputation as a far-seeing 
statesman. 

Sent by the Convention on a mission to re- 
organize the army of the Rhine, he inspired the 
defeated troops with fresh courage, disciplined 
a number of the officers, removed one general 
in disgrace, had another shot, sent the president 
of the Revolutionary Tribunal of Strasbourg to 
the scaffold, and levied a tax of 10,000,000 francs 
on the wealthy citizens of that town to feed the 
starving troops that were defending them. He 
even went so far as to interfere with the plans 
295 



ROBESPIERRE 

of Carnot, and brought down upon his head the 
censure of that able war minister. 

(He was of inflexible will, had great self-pos- 
session, resolution and courage. He had a cold 
exterior and was not easily perturbed. Upon 
one occasion when Robespierre grew angry and 
impatient over a trivial matter, St. Just chided 
him and reminded him that " empire belongs only 
to the phlegmatic." 

He was an orator of great force, but not an 
incessant talker like Robespierre. According to 
Aulard, he addressed the Convention not more 
than twenty times during the period of his mem- 
bership, yet on every occasion his words were of 
the profoundest importance. He was possessed 
of remarkable executive and organizing ability. 

His personal beauty was striking. Desmou- 
lins described his face as apocalyptic. His 
features were regular and finely cut. He had 
large, full, deep blue eyes, which were solemn in 
expression except when lighted up in the anima- 
tion of speech. His hair almost reached his 
shoulders, and was parted In the centre. He 
dressed with care, wore a blue coat, with a stand- 
ing collar and two rows of brass buttons, cuffs, 
frills, and buckled shoes. 

In his most sarcastic vein but in a playful 
mood, Camille, upon one occasion in referring to 
St. Just, said : " He looks upon his head as the 
corner stone of the republic and carries it as if 
it were the holy sacrament." " And I will make 
him," replied St. Just with a snarl, " carry his 
like St. Denis," alluding to the legend of that 
296 




ST. JUST 
From an engraving in the collection of William J. Latta, Esq. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

saint having walked from Paris to the grave car- 
rying his head under his arm. This witticism of 
Camille so wounded the vanity and the self- 
esteem of St. Just that the latter never forgot 
nor forgave the insult, and called the account 
settled only when his victim went to the scaffold. 

He took life very seriously and was as sombre 
and as gloomy as a monk in Lent. Young, hand- 
some, and intelligent, he was lionized while in 
Strasbourg; but temptations could not induce 
him to abandon his virtue. Under circumstances 
that might have seduced even a stronger man, he 
displayed the spirit of a Scipio. 

He was a fanatic, a bigot in his devotion to 
the Revolution; to him it was a dogma, and no 
sympathy nor sentiment of mercy could influence 
him in the pursuit of its enemies. He declared: 
" The vessel of the Revolution can arrive in port 
only on a sea reddened with torrents of blood." 
His declaration that " no one can rule innocently 
in France " meant, in its strict interpretation, 
that every excess was justifiable that had for its 
purpose the advancement of the Revolution. 

He was executed in the twenty-sixth year of 
his age. His was a short life, but a full one. 



297 



CHAPTER XXIII 

AN IRRELIGIOUS FRENZY EXECUTION OF THE 

HEBERTISTS ROBESPIERRE MEETS DANTON 

AT DINNER — EXECUTION OF THE DANTON- 
ISTS. 

Having abandoned her religion, France seemed 
to delight in ridiculing the ancient faith. The 
ceremonies of Christian worship were burlesqued ; 
donkeys and bullocks were robed in priestly gar- 
ments ; a woman was enthroned as the pontiff of 
atheism. "Beauty without modesty," says 
Beauregard, " was seen usurping the place of the 
Holy of Holies." A great crowd, mockingly 
chanting the Te Deum and elevating the host, 
marched through the streets of Paris amidst jeer- 
ing and applauding throngs. Men wearing sur- 
plices and copes led an immense procession to the 
bar of the Convention, where they deposited a 
great quantity of gold and silver which they 
had found in the churches and which they trans- 
ported on wheelbarrows. After making bur- 
lesque speeches and mockingly addressing apos- 
trophes to the saints, the crowd filed out into the 
streets dancing the Carmagnole. Several of the 
deputies hooked arms with the fair citoyennes and 
joined in the orgy. Robespierre watched these 
sacrilegious proceedings silently but contemptu- 
ously. 

298 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

. The churches were sacked and everything holy 
was defiled. The sacred and historic temple of 
St. Denis, containing the royal tombs of the mon- 
archs of the Valois and Bourbon houses, was 
broken open and despoiled. The body of the 
great Turenne was exposed to the public gaze 
for hours ; even the coffin of Henry IV was taken 
from its vault, the corpse placed upright on a 
stone and the remains of him who had once been 
the idol of the nation were mocked by a ferocious 
rabble until a drunken woman knocked down the 
corpse by giving it a blow in the face. 

All the vaults were emptied, the bodies thrown 
into pits, and covered with quicklime. The 
leaden coffins were carted off to be moulded into 
bullets. 

Hebert had headed this sacrilegious move- 
ment; he was the apostle of its teachings, and 
the columns of his paper indulged in the coarsest 
ribaldry. This conduct aroused the indignation 
of Robespierre, and he was most bitter in his de- 
nunciation of Hebert and his followers. " There 
are men," said he, " who upon the pretext of 
destroying superstition would fain make a sort 
of 1-eligion of atheism itself," and then in the 
language of Voltaire exclaimed : " Si Dieu n'ex- 
istait pas, il faudrait I'inventer " — " If God did 
not exist, it would be necessary to invent him." 

Robespierre was always outspoken in his op- 
position to atheism ; upon one occasion when Du- 
port declared : " I am an atheist," Robespierre 
looking searchingly at him said : " Atheism is 
aristocratic. The idea of a great being who 
299 



ROBESPIERRE 

watches over oppressed innocence and punishes 
triumphant crime is essentially the idea of the 
people." Whether or not it was this thought 
that controlled his religious belief it is hard to 
say, but it is a fact that he did profess a faith 
in the existence of a great creative and over-rul- 
ing power. 

" How could I have borne my struggles,' 
he cried out once at the Jacobins', " that were be- 
yond any human strength, if I had not raised 
my spirit to God." 

Hebert not only scoffed at the idea of a Su- 
preme Being, but reviled sacred things, and be- 
sides taught doctrines that if applied would have 
destroyed the whole social fabric. 

At the instance and under the advice of Robes- 
pierre, Camille Desmoulins had attacked the 
Hebertists most vigorously. In his characteristic 
style he had declared : " I will sharpen my pen 
into a dagger and stab these scoundrels ; my ink 
is more indelible than their blood, it stains for 
immortality." He denounced them as " a turbu- 
lent and an atrocious faction," and described their 
leader as " a miserable intriguer, a caterer for 
the guillotine, a traitor paid by Pitt, a thief and a 
robber who had been expelled from his office 
of check-taker at a theatre for theft." 

The Hebertists were soon condemned and on 
the 24th of March, 1794, five carts carried them 
to execution. A fouler crew the Revolution did 
not spew out into eternity. 

With this faction removed, the field was clear 
for the immolation of the Dantonists. 
300 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

The partisans of Robespierre, unable to in- 
terpret the purpose of Danton, and seeing that 
his conduct was creating a reactionary move- 
ment against the Revolution, urged Robespierre 
at every turn to surrender to their vengeance his 
old-time friend. The Great Committee had al- 
ready marked Danton for destruction, and were 
waiting for the first opportunity to strike the 
blow. 

Danton had been one of the early colleagues 
of Robespierre ; time and again the great tribune 
had come to his rescue, and Robespierre should 
have been grateful. They were, to be sure, so 
opposite in character and disposition that they 
never could form a close friendship, such a tie 
for instance as bound Camille to Danton, or St. 
Just to Robespierre. Yet, the time was at hand 
when these two men could have formed a com- 
bination that would have secured to them almost 
unlimited power; the fate of the Republic was 
in their hands; they had merely to unite their 
forces. But for some unaccountable reason Dan- 
ton, his vigor and ambition lost, was groping his 
way like a blind man. Robespierre, unable to 
account for the change in Danton's attitude to- 
wards the Revolution, had grown suspicious 
and was watching his rival with the eyes of a 
lynx. 

"Ah! if Danton were an honest man, if he 
truly were a republican ! " exclaimed Robespierre. 
" What would I not give to have the lantern of 
the Greek philosopher to see into his head and 
heart." This seeming distrust of Danton was a 

301 



ROBESPIERRE 

signal of danger. Suspicion was sufficient justi- 
fication in those days for accusation. 
. When the friends of Danton besought him to 
come out of his state of inaction, when they 
predicted his overthrow and destruction if he did 
not exert his power, he would laugh at their fears 
and invite them to go with him to the nearest 
cafe to eat a pullet and drink a bottle of wine. 
The whole character of the man seemed to have 
undergone a change ; he was careless, indifferent, 
supine. By his conduct he imperiled the lives 
of his friends and the safety of his party. 

There had been a time when Danton looked 
upon Robespierre as a dreamer, an idealist, but 
not as a man of force; in fact, in his characteristic 
way he had said that Robespierre was incapable 
of boiling eggs hard. But the great tribune 
ought to have known by this time that the little 
fanatic would stop short at nothing in promoting 
the progress and consummating the purposes of 
the Revolution. 

There was no trace of the trimmer or the 
coward in Danton, and he was outspoken in his 
denunciation of those men who persisted in keep- 
ing alive a system of terror when the reason for 
it no longer remained. There was nothing that 
the Terrorists so feared as a reaction; it meant 
for them personal and political destruction and 
any one who favored a system of moderation or 
believed that the time had arrived to exercise 
clemency fell at once under their suspicion. Such 
a view in the opinion of the rabid revolutionists 

302 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

was treasonable and evinced a spirit of disloyalty 
to the Republic. 

Some of the partisans of Danton and Robes- 
pierre, desiring- to avoid the collision that ap- 
parently was so imminent, arranged that these 
two leaders should meet at a dinner. Every- 
thing passed off quietly and pleasantly until the 
repast was over, when Danton, perhaps heated 
with wine, expressed himself too freely, " We 
hold between us two the peace or war of the Re- 
public," he said ; " I am for peace ; I desire con- 
cord, but I would not give my head to thirty 
tyrants." 

" Whom do you call tyrants ? " asked Robes- 
pierre ; " there is no other tyranny under the Re- 
public than that of country." 

" Some of the committee thirst for my blood," 
exclaimed Danton. 

" Not one of the committee desires your head," 
replied Robespierre. " Would I be here if I 
sought your death ; would I offer my hand to him 
whose assassination I meditated? " 

" You take," asserted Danton, " the hatred 
people bear towards you for crimes, you declare 
all your enemies guilty." 

" No," said Robespierre, " and the proof that I 
do not as you charge is the fact that you still 
live." 

There was a snarl in these words ; the little ti- 
ger showed his teeth. Robespierre immediately 
took his departure. That night he met St. Just 
at his lodgings and they conversed until daylight. 

303 



ROBESPIERRE 

The dinner had resulted in putting Robespierre 
on his guard. Danton's language had been 
threatening in its character and Robespierre was 
right, perhaps, in considering it a challenge. So 
at last, under the persuasion of Billaud-Varennes, 
" he yielded to fear and domination the head of 
Danton." 

This encounter at the dinner should have been 
warning enough to Danton that there was no time 
to loiter, but he continued to smile at the fears 
of his friends, and to trifle with fate. While 
the storm was raging and the lightnings were 
playing around his head, he seemed foolishly in 
a spirit of mere bravado to provoke and defy 
the very elements. " They will not dare," he 
muttered when told that the committee contem- 
plated his arrest. 

- ■: He and his friends were soon brought be- 
fore the tribunal and condemned.^ " We are 
found guilty without a hearing," said Danton; 
" there have been no deliberations, no testimony, 
no witnesses, but we have lived long enough to 
slumber on the bosom of glory; now we go to 
the scaffold. We are sacrificed to the vengeance 
of a few dastardly brigands; but I drag down 
Robespierre after me in my fall." 

As Danton on his way to execution passed 
the dwelling of Robespierre, he rose in the cart 
and called down the curse of heaven upon the 
head of his enemy.^ 

Judging from the exclamations made by Dan- 

1 See " Danton and the French Revolution," p. 400. 
^Ibid., p. 418. 

304 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

ton at his trial, during his imprisonment, and 
while on his way to execution, he unquestionably- 
believed that he was the victim of Robespierre's 
hate. Even when on the platform of the scaffold 
he sang a song the theme of which was that 
Robespierre who had overthrown him would soon 
follow in his downfall. 

Danton thought that Robespierre could have 
saved him if he would, and consequently held 
him responsible; but in truth, Billaud-Varennes, 
St. Just, and some other enemies of Danton in 
the Committee of Public Safety were the men 
who encompassed his death, and who induced 
Robespierre to join in the accusation. 

If any dependence can be placed upon the con- 
duct and the language of Robespierre, he was for 
a long time very reluctant to acquiesce in the ac- 
cusation of Danton; but when he did make up 
his mind to join in the prosecution he pursued 
relentlessly his old-time colleague. History holds 
him almost wholly responsible for Danton's over- 
throw and destruction, but this is going too far; 
although when the following facts are consid- 
ered he must be held indirectly to blame for Dan- 
ton's death. 

In the first place, Robespierre could have saved 
Danton had he used his influence in that direc- 
tion. Again, when, after the arrest of Danton 
and his friends, Legendre moved to bring the 
prisoners before the bar of the Convention, Robes- 
pierre cut off the last chance of the Dantonists 
by defeating the motion. And finally, the re- 
markable report read by St. Just in the Conven- 

20 305 



ROBESPIERRE 

tion against the Dantonists, which greatly aided 
in effecting their condemnation, is said to have 
been prepared from notes furnished by Robes- 
pierre, many particulars of which Robespierre 
knew to be false. A number of the accusations 
in St. Just's report were absurd, admittedly so; 
but some excuse, some shadow of justification 
had to be made for the overthrow of Danton, 
whose opposition was threatening the destruction 
of the Great Committee. Danton was sacrificed 
not for what he had done, but for fear of what 
he might do. 

Robespierre's conduct in the accusation and 
condemnation of Danton was bad enough at best, 
but Barras, in his Memoirs, says : " Robespierre, 
not content with having seen the victims pass 
his house, followed them to the place of execu- 
tion, and the insatiable tiger, made more blood- 
thirsty by the sight he witnessed, seemed to be 
licking his jaws and gargling his throat with the 
blood from the scaffold. He sought to conceal 
himself amid the masses surrounding the guil- 
lotine and wended his way homeward with tot- 
tering steps as if he had lost his balance." 
y-'Such stories made Robespierre appear as a 
sanguinary monster, vindictive and pitiless. Yet 
how is it possible to believe that, with his natural 
caution, he would have been so foolish as to at- 
tend and witness the execution? He could not 
possibly have hidden his identity in the crowd, 
so well-known was he as a public man, and his 
presence would have brought upon him the cen- 
sure of the entire community. 
306 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

' Barras was an implacable enemy of Robes- 
pierre. During the " Reign of Terror " he was 
one of the men, who, to shift the responsibility 
for their own crimes, charged Robespierre with 
the commission of them and placed upon his 
shoulders the blame for all the excesses of that 
period. 

This surrender by Robespierre of his old-time 
colleague was the greatest blunder of his polit- 
ical life, for he betrayed the only man who could 
have stood between him and destruction — the 
only man who could have been of use in helping 
him to carry out his projects for a reaction 
against the " Terror." The man who had saved 
France from Brunswick would have been only 
too willing to unite with Robespierre in an ef- 
fort to save the Republic from further slaughter. 



307 



CHAPTER XXIV 

WAS ROBESPIERRE THE SCAPEGOAT OF THE REVO- 
LUTION ? ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF 

COLLOT d'hERBOIS BY l' ADMIRAL CECILE 

REGNAULT. 

After the death of Danton, Robespierre was 
looked upon as the head of the Republic. The 
little squinting lawyer, who came as a deputy 
from the town of Arras to the States-General, 
had reached the height of his ambition. He was 
unquestionably at this hour the leading man in 
all France; the popular representative, the em- 
bodiment of the principles of the Revolution. 
He was the most influential member of the Con- 
vention, the leader of the Jacobins, and the idol 
of the mob; he dominated the Commune, and 
had the support of the National Guards. It 
was only in the Committee of Public Safety that 
he was not supreme. 

(Through the changing scenes of the Revolu- 
tion, he had chosen his way prudently, wisely, 
most skilfully avoiding all pitfalls, and at last 
had reached the summit of his power. Without 
magnetism, actually cold and repellant in man- 
ner, with none of those brilliant qualities of mind 
that attract and enchain the attention of men, 
and wanting in the attributes of the popular 
308 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

orator, he forced his way to the front and at last 
'' stood alone on the awful eminence of the Holy 
Mountain." 

To attain so exalted a position in such a period 
and among a multitude of men, many of them 
of surpassing greatness, required more than or- 
dinary qualities. It will not do to dismiss him 
simply as a fanatic without talent or genius. 

He had always been positive in the expression 
of his views, had remained ever inflexible in 
purpose and consistent in his political conduct. 
His unbending will awed the spirit of the bravest ; 
he was the only man who ever sent a tremor 
into the heart of the dauntless Danton. 

; That he was envious and ambitious for power 
goes without saying, but that he would have 
encompassed the death of a political rival for 
mere personal advancement is not true; and yet 
Sir Walter Scott declares that to be marked 
in his tablets for any personal opposition, af- 
front, or even rivalry, was virtually a sentence 
of death. Statements such as this have made 
him appear in the eyes of the world as a fiend 
incarnate, and he has been in consequence held 
responsible for many crimes he neither commit- 
ted nor even contemplated. 

(He is charged with having had a sanguinary 
disposition, but he asserted time and again that 
he never favored the shedding of human blood 
unless it was for the success of the Revolution 
or the safety of the Republic. In his celebrated 
speech against granting the king a trial, he de- 
clared : " The penalty of death generally is a 
309 



ROBESPIERRE 

crime, and for that reason alone, according to the 
indestructible principles of nature, it can be justi- 
fied only in cases when it is necessary for the 
safety of individuals or the social body." " The 
theory that he loved judicial murder for its own 
sake," says Morley, " can only be held by the 
silliest of royalist or clerical partisans. It is 
like the theory of the vulgar kind of Protestant- 
ism that Mary Tudor or Philip of Spain had a 
keen delight in shedding blood. Robespierre, like 
Mary and like Philip, would have been as well 
pleased if all the world would have come round 
to his mind without the destruction of a single 
life." 

Napoleon declared that Robespierre was the 
scapegoat of the Revolution, and every comment 
made by that great man upon the actors, parties, 
or events of that period is worthy the greatest 
respect and consideration. He was close enough 
to the Revolution actually to witness it, and yet 
far enough away to have a clear perspective. 
With his keen perception he could see deeply 
into the motives and purposes of men and was a 
close observer of those tumultuous times. When 
he says that Robespierre was made to bear the 
faults and crimes of others, it must be taken 
as more than a mere assertion. 

In Robespierre's last speech before the Con- 
vention, he complained bitterly that he had been 
held responsible for everything, and that in con- 
sequence his reputation had greatly suffered. 
" Who am I," he cried, " whom they accuse ? 
A slave of liberty, a living martyr of the Re- 
310 



•THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

public. The delinquencies of others are par-, 
doned; my zeal is imputed to me as a crime. 
The victims of their own perversity excused 
themselves by saying : ' It is Robespierre who 
desires it — we cannot help ourselves ! ' The 
infamous disciples of Hebert once used the same 
language in an attempt to hold me responsible 
for their vices. My enemies say to the nobles : 

* It is he alone that has proscribed you.' They 
said to the patriots at the same time : ' He de- 
sires to save the nobles.' They told the priests : 

* It is he alone that pursues you, it is he alone 
that destroys religion.' To the persecuted 
patriots : ' It is he that has ordered it, or de- 
sires not to prevent it.' Behold the unhappy 
condemned. * Who is the cause of this ? ' 

* Robespierre,' they reply. The crimes of all are 
thrown at my door. My enemies were particu- 
larly anxious to prove that the Revolutionary 
Tribunal was a tribunal of blood created by me 
alone." This speech was delivered in the Con- 
vention in the hearing of men who knew whether 
or not the facts were true. It is not reasonable 
to suppose that under such circumstances he 
would have drawn wholly upon his imagina- 
tion. 

The loth of August * was Danton's work, as 
were also the domiciliary visits,^ and Robes- 
pierre can not be held responsible for the Sep- 
tember Massacres.^ 

1 See " Danton and the French Revolution," p. 238. 
^ Ibid., p. 261. 
^Ihid., p. 264. 

3" 



ROBESPIERRE 

He displayed at times, as we have seen, a 
spirit of independence. He opposed the war 
and was willing to go to any extreme, without, 
of course, soiling the honor of the Republic, to 
effect any compromise that would have avoided 
it, and this stand he took and maintained bravely, 
even when it threatened his popularity. He sus- 
tained the king's veto in the matter of the ban- 
ishment of nonjuring priests. He favored the 
abolition of the death penalty in 1791. If that 
had been decreed, what misery and agony France 
would have been saved! 

On the day of Marat's triumph, when the mob 
invaded the hall of the Assembly, Robespierre 
had courage enough to show his disapproval of 
such an intrusion and even to sneer at the wild 
assertions of Marat. 

For five years from the 5th of May, 1789, 
the date of the meeting of the States-General, 
to the day of his death, in July, 1794, he had 
been an active participant in the Revolution. As 
a radical member of the Jacobins, and as a dep- 
uty in the Constituent Assembly and the National 
Convention, he became so thoroughly identified 
v/ith the Revolution that he grew to be a part 
of it; and holding, as he did towards its close, 
supreme power, he represented in himself all for 
which it stood. 

English authors and journalists are to be held 
accountable for much of the abuse that has been 
heaped upon his name. He was denounced, car- 
tooned, and caricatured in every portion of Great 
Britain, held up to public condemnation, and 
312 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

described as a monster, a Moloch. His name 
was the synonym for terror, and was used as a 
bugbear with which to frighten naughty or dis- 
obedient children; the mere mention of it would 
make the little ones cower in their cribs. Be- 
cause of his prominence, he became identified 
with all the vices, crimes, and excesses of the 
Revolution. It was Robespierre's committee, 
Robespierre's government, Robespierre's repub- 
lic, Robespierre's revolution. In referring to the 
French troops in one of his proclamations, the 
Duke of York actually called them Robespierre's 
soldiers. Foreign newspapers spoke of him 
ironically as Maximilien I, king of France and 
Navarre. Victor Hugo says : " The pupils of 
the military school were termed by the decree of 
the Convention * aspirants to the school of Mars,' 
and by the people * Robespierre's pages.' " 

Many of the events of the Revolution were 
bad enough, but how must they have appeared 
after the accounts of them crossed the channel, 
and when viewed through English minds and 
prejudices! And in British eyes what form 
must that man have assumed who was considered 
responsible for all these crimes ? 

As the most conspicuous man of the Republic, 
Robespierre was the object of attack from many 
opposing political factions, as well as from all 
the forces in opposition to the Revolution. 

For several days, a man named L' Admiral 
loitered around the passageway of the Commit- 
tee of Public Safety, hoping to meet Robespierre, 
having marked him for assassination. Growing 
313 



ROBESPIERRE 

tired of waiting, not having caught even a 
ghmpse of his would-be victim, he decided to 
turn his attention to Collot d'Herbois. 

L' Admiral occupied a room in the house where 
Collot lodged, and on the night of the 2nd 
Prairial waylaid Collot, who was returning from 
a meeting of the Jacobins. At the first pull of 
the trigger the fire flashed in the pan, but the 
ball from a second pistol just missed the head 
of Collot and imbedded itself in the wall. Both 
men grappled and rolled down the stairs, gen- 
darmes arrived, and the assailant was arrested. 

Almost contemporaneously with the attack on 
Collot, a young girl seventeen years of age, 
named Cecile Regnault, a sempstress by occupa- 
tion, called at the lodgings of Robespierre and 
insisted upon seeing him, declaring with em- 
phasis that public men should always be accessi- 
ble to their constituents. Her manner excited 
suspicion and she was arrested. She carried 
a basket on her arm, which when examined was 
found to contain a couple of knives, entirely too 
small, however, to have accomplished an assas- 
sination. She was taken before the tribunal and, 
upon being asked why she visited Robespierre, 
answered : " I wished to see what a tyrant 
was like." "Why are you a royalist?" "Be- 
cause I prefer one king to sixty tyrants," was her 
bold reply. These answers, so treasonable in 
character, were enough to condemn her and she 
was at once found guilty. 

It was rumored that she was an agent of the 
English government and that she had appeared 
314 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

dressed as Charlotte Corday at a bal masque in 
London, where she had brandished a dagger and 
exclaimed: "I go to seek Robespierre." An- 
other report was that her lover had been guil- 
lotined and she desired to avenge his death. The 
truth probably was that she sought notoriety 
and essayed the role of Charlotte Corday with- 
out intending to commit murder. Her father 
was a paper hanger in the old city of Paris. 

The news that Robespierre's life was in dan- 
ger created the greatest excitement, and the 
Jacobins made public rejoicings over his deliv- 
erance. 

It gave Robespierre a great opportunity to de- 
nounce tyrants, to exalt and to martyrize himself, 
and to indulge in that morbid sentimentality that 
so characterized him. " I fully expected," he 
said, " that the defenders of liberty would be a 
mark for the daggers of tyranny. The crimes of 
tyrants and the assassin's steel have but rendered 
us more free and more terrible to the foes of 
the people. Poniards are sharpened against us 
and we are to be sacrificed to the vengeance o^ 
the enemies of the Republic." 
i If such an attempt had been made upon the life 
of Mirabeau or of Danton, he would have 
laughed at the fiasco; it would have been much 
better for Robespierre had he treated the matter 
in the same way. In the end his enemies greatly 
injured his reputation by making it appear that 
in his desire for revenge he sacrificed even the 
innocent. 



315 



CHAPTER XXV 

IRRELIGIOUS CONDITION OF FRANCE FESTIVAL 

OF THE SUPREME BEING. 

Robespierre saw a threatening danger to the 
Republic in the utter disregard for rehgion that 
prevailed throughout the country. The nation 
had become godless. 

He felt that every effort should be made to 
curb the passions and to restrain the excesses of 
the people. Immorality was destroying the fame 
and the very fabric of the Republic. 

Christianity had been cast out, but as Edgar 
Quinet wisely observes : " Une religion ne petit 
etre extirpe que par une autre religion/' Eth- 
ical codes and philosophy are good enough in 
their way, but the average man requires an ac- 
countability to a higher power. This question 
of religion was a matter that essentially con- 
cerned the well-being of the community and also 
the stability and preservation of the Republic. 

To be sure, a woman, chosen more for her 
beauty than for her virtue, had been enthroned 
with pomp in the Cathedral of Notre Dame as 
the Goddess of Reason; but that was a mere 
pageant, and was in itself a renunciation of re- 
ligion. 

, The churches in many localities no longer held 
\ 316 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

services even for the faithful. Many of the 
priests, monks, and nuns, had thrown aside their 
habits, had renounced their vows, and, to show 
their utter contempt for their past religious ob- 
ligations, had formed alliances in the face of 
heaven "a la Rousseau." Priests loyal to the 
Revolution had no influence among the orthodox, 
and those persons with whom they were friendly 
had no regard for religion. A footnote in the 
Memoirs of Mile, des Echerolles states that the 
constitutional prelates were designated " intrus " 
or intruders, and bishops in this class wore at the 
altar, in place of the mitre, the red cap of lib- 
erty. What a travesty! the ministers of Chris- 
tianity clothed in the habiliments of the Revolu- 
tion, a monster that had ruthlessly despoiled the 
Church of its power and property. 
i It was some little time before this period 
that Gobel, the Archbishop of Paris, had virtually 
renounced his religion. He had been elected a 
deputy to the States-General in 1789, and had 
embraced with ardor the popular cause. He 
joined the Jacobin Club, and was so radical in his 
views that he made himself at times appear not 
only inconsistent but ridiculous in the suggestions 
he offered and the motions he made. He went 
even so far as to assume the garb of a Sans 
Culotte. In 1791, he was chosen the constitu- 
tional Archbishop of Paris, and was one of the 
first to worship at the shrine of the Goddess of 
Reason, after having permitted the ceremonies 
incident to the installation of that deity to take 
place in the cathedral of his diocese. 
317 



ROBESPIERRE 

In November, 1793, he appeared in the Con- 
vention wearing a red cap. Addressing the 
body, he said that, having been raised to the arch- 
bishopric of Paris at a time when the people 
wanted bishops, he now resigned his office when 
his services were no longer needed. As he fin- 
ished speaking, he laid down his mitre, his crosier, 
and his ring. 

Such an example could but have an unwhole- 
some influence throughout all France. It may 
not be amiss to state in this connection that 
Gobel was sentenced to death in 1794, when he 
embraced his old faith, and on his way to the 
scaffold read with devotion the prayers of the 
dying. 

The Convention had passed a resolution that 
all the outward signs of the Christian religion 
should disappear: there should not be exposed 
for sale upon the streets or in public places " any 
kinds of jugglery, such as holy napkins, St. 
Veronica's handkerchiefs, Ecce Homos, crosses, 
relics, Agnus Deis, powders or drugs with so- 
called miraculous power " ; all the Virgins and 
Madonnas should be removed from the niches 
at the corners of streets and busts of patriots and 
martyrs, such as Marat and Lepelletier Saint 
Fargeau, should be substituted. Even the names 
of the streets bearing the word Saint were 
changed; for instance, rue Saint Honore was 
to be called simply Honore. 

It was through the instrumentality of the guil- 
lotine, instead of the cross, that the regeneration 
of the world was to be accomplished ; to its name 
318 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

was added the prefix — " Holy." This bloody- 
symbol of the Revolution took the place of the 
crucifix, and miniature guillotines made of gun 
metal were worn as ornaments. 
\ The rites and ceremonies of religion were 
abandoned: infants were not baptized, the burial 
service was not read, the communion was not 
administered to the sick, nor were consolation 
and absolution given to the dying. Children 
came into the world without a blessing and old 
age went into eternity without a hope. Sun- 
day as a day of worship was stricken from the 
calendar, and the steeples rang forth no chimes, 
for the bells had been melted and cast into can- 
non. 

/ The abandoned chapels and churches were 
fused for barracks, in some instances even for 
stables, and instead of the prayers of the priests 
and the responses of devout worshipers were 
heard the oaths of troopers, the neighing of 
horses, the tramping of iron hoofs on the mar- 
ble pavements, and the clinking of arms. The 
temples of peace were profaned and devoted to 
the uses of war. 

Over the portals of the graveyards was in- 
scribed the cheerless and hopeless doctrine: 
" Death is an eternal sleep." With the same 
appropriateness as at the entrance of Dante's In- 
ferno could have been written the words : 

" Lascidte ogni speranza ch 'entrate ici." ^ 

A comedian, to carry impiety to its height, 

1 " Who enters here leaves every hope." 
319 



ROBESPIERRE 

mounted the pulpit in the Church of St. Roche, 
declared there was no God and then challenged 
Him to prove His existence by launching His 
thunderbolts. Inasmuch as the Almighty did 
not violate a law of nature by immediately crush- 
ing this puny Ajax, he argued therefrom the 
truth of his impious assertion. 

The Church was to blame, in a great measure, 
for this irreligious condition. In the reign of 
Louis XIV many of the hierarchy were men of 
fine ability and unblemished morals, and al- 
though representing and supporting a system 
that was intolerant and tyrannical in its charac- 
ter, their dominion was seemingly lighter because 
of their virtues. Bossuet, Flechier, Fenelon, 
Bourdaloue, Mascaron, and Massillon would have 
adorned their pious and holy calling in any age 
of the world's history, but this type of great 
churchmen seemed suddenly to disappear. 

From the days of the regency of the Duket)f 
Orleans, in the reign of Louis XV, the Church 
had been honeycombed with scepticism. The up- 
per clergy as a class were as extravagant as 
the nobility, and in many instances their scan- 
dalous lives made their profession of faith a 
sham and a mockery. The bishop, wrapped in 
his purple and lapped in luxury, gave no sign 
of being a disciple of the lowly and humble 
Jesus. Such prelates as Dubois, the most noto- 
riously immoral man of his time, Lafiteau, Ten- 
cin, Rohan, and Talleyrand are but a few sam- 
ples of the higher clergy. Dissolute and licen- 
320 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

tious in their habits, they preached a morality 
which they compromised by their conduct. 

Many of the bishops and those prelates who 
held high positions in the hierarchy were drawn 
from the noble families, and they were attracted 
to the service of the Church more because of its 
princely revenues and the social distinction its 
offices conferred than from any spirit of real 
piety, and often their sacred calling was used but 
as a cloak to cover the immorality of their lives. 

A great number of ecclesiastics, too, were not 
only profligate but ignorant. " So low had the 
talents of the once illustrious Church of France 
fallen," says Allison, " that in the latter part of 
the eighteenth century when Christianity itself 
was assailed, not one champion of note appeared 
in its ranks." In fact, declares the same author, 
when the Church hurled its anathema against the 
prevailing infidelity and offered rewards for 
the best essays in defence of the Christian faith, 
the productions were so weak and contemptible 
that they provoked the jeers of unbelievers and 
really injured the cause of religion. Draper, in 
his " Intellectual Development of Europe," in 
commenting upon the different epochs of the 
Church's career, says: "There is a time of 
abounding strength, a time of feebleness, a time 
of ruinous loss, a time of utter exhaustion. What 
a difference between the eleventh and the eight- 
eenth centuries. It is the noontide and the 
evening of a day of empire." 

In this period of the Church's decadence, it 

21 321 



ROBESPIERRE 

was unable to offer any effectual resistance to the 
Revolution, and was overwhelmed by the force 
and violence of that great upheaval. 

The Church had been exacting in the collection 
of its tithes and had been made enormously rich 
by the tribute paid and the services rendered 
under the unrighteous system of feudalism. Cor- 
rupted by its great wealth and becoming more 
avaricious as its wealth increased, it was charged 
with caring more for the gathering of its tithes 
than for the salvation of souls. 

The Church was so closely identified with the 
monarchy that they depended for existence upon 
each other; both were enriched by the same 
iniquitous system of taxation and when the Rev- 
olution came their interests were so interwoven 
that it was impossible to destroy one without 
at the same time destroying the other. 

It was not the desire nor the intention of 
Robespierre to revive Christianity nor to re-es- 
tablish the Church, for he did not believe in the 
divinity of Christ, in the Trinity, nor in the 
Virgin Mary. The Nicene Creed was to him a 
dead letter, but he did profess, as we have seen, 
a belief in a Supreme Being, and upon his motion 
the Assembly passed a decree recognizing the ex- 
istence of God. " How infinitely different," he 
exclaimed, " is the God of nature from the God 
of the clergy. What is there in common be- 
tween the priests and God? The priests are to 
morality what quacks are to medicine. Let us 
leave the priests and return to the divinity." 

Upon one occasion, in addressing himself to 
322 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

Elizabeth Duplay, who had spoken slightingly 
of religion, he said : " You do not know how 
much consolation is to be obtained from a belief 
in God." At another time he declared : " If 
the existence of God and the immortality of the 
soul were but dreams they would still be the most 
beautiful conceptions of the human mind." 

In the last speech he delivered in the Conven- 
tion, he eloquently cried out : " No ! no ! Death 
is not an eternal sleep! Citizens! Efface from 
the tomb that motto chiseled into the stone by 
sacrilegious hands, which motto spreads over all 
nature a funereal pall, takes from oppressed in- 
nocence its support, and affronts the beneficent 
dispensation of death! Inscribe rather thereon 
these words : Death is the commencement of 
immortality." 

It was, however, the almost universal belief 
in France, at that time, that there was no future 
life, and to settle this all-important question the 
legislature declared that the soul was immortal. 
It was further decided that a Festival pompously 
styled " Fete de I'Etre Supreme " should be held 
to inaugurate the new religious system of Deism, 
a belief as old as the everlasting hills, but new 
in so far as its adoption by France was concerned. 

David the artist, who had buried Marat, the 
philosopher of the gutters, with a pomp truly 
magnificent, was given instructions to make the 
ceremony grand and impressive. According to 
the accounts of the time he did both. 

An immense amphitheatre was arranged back 
of the Tuileries and doors leading from the hall 
323 



ROBESPIERRE 

of the Convention opened into this space. In 
the centre was erected a tribune which was spe- 
cially reserved for the occupancy of Robespierre, 
thus making him the principal figure in the scene. 
All the deputies were dressed alike, in blue 
coats with red facings, and each deputy carried 
a bouquet of flowers. They entered the amphi- 
theatre from the hall of the Convention and took 
the seats of honor assigned them. 

Robespierre was in a state of exultation. He 
wore a coat of blue lighter in shade than the 
coats worn by his colleagues and his vanity took 
care to see that the difference was enough to be 
noticeable. It was buttoned tightly at the waist 
and, being open above, revealed a white vest 
and rufiled shirt. The rest of his attire consisted 
of yellow leather breeches, top-boots, and a round 
hat covered with ribbons of the national colors. 
He carried a large bouquet of flowers and wheat 
ears. 

It was a beautiful day and the people entered 
with enthusiasm into the spirit of the occasion. 
All punishments were suspended; the guillotine 
concealed in the folds of rich hangings ceased its 
bloody work while the nation returned to a recog- 
nition of its God. Even the members of the 
Revolutionary Committee had taken a vacation 
and watched the ceremony from the windows of 
the Pavilion de Flore. 

It was Robespierre's great day and he treated 
it as such, much to the envy, jealousy, and dis- 
satisfaction of his rivals and colleagues. When 
he appeared in the amphitheatre and ascended the 
324 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

tribune reserved for his special use, he was 
greeted with the wildest acclaim and enthusiasm 
by the people; never before had he been the 
recipient of so great a demonstration. 

"Frenchmen! republicans!" he said, "at last 
has arrived the day which the French people 
have consecrated to the Supreme Being. Never 
did the world offer to its Author a spectacle more 
worthy of His regard. He has seen reigning 
over the earth, tyranny, crime, imposture. He 
sees at this moment an entire nation, contending 
against all the oppressors of the human race, 
suspending their heroic efforts to raise their 
thoughts and views toward the Great Being who 
gave them the wisdom to undertake and the force 
to execute them. 

" He did not create kings to devour the human 
race, nor priests to harness us like beasts to the 
car of kings. He created the universe to make 
known His power. He created men to aid and 
love each other and to attain happiness by walk- 
ing in the path of virtue. 

" It is He that stings with remorse the tri- 
umphant oppressor and places in the heart of the 
oppressed calmness and disdain. He it is that 
makes the souls of mothers throb with tender- 
ness. The hatred of hypocrisy and tyranny 
burns in our hearts with the love of justice and 
of country. Our blood flows for the cause of 
humanity. This is our prayer, our sacrifice — 
this the worship we offer unto Thee ! " 

After delivering this speech, Robespierre de- 
scended from the tribune and, with a torch, set 

325 



ROBESPIERRE 

fire to a pile of combustible material Which rep- 
resented Atheism, vice, and crimes. While the 
flames were reducing this mass to ashes, while 
the sins of the world were passing away in smoke, 
trained vocalists sang the hymn the opening lines 
of which were : 

" Ton temple est sur les monts, dans les airs, sur 

les ondes; 
Tu n'as point de passe, Tu n'as point d'avenir, 
Et sans les occuper, Tu remplis, tous les niondes. 
Qui ne peuvent Te contenir." ^ 

At the conclusion of the ceremonies in the am- 
phitheatre, the members of the Convention 
marched in procession to the Champ de Mars. 
White oxen, with gilded horns and decorated 
with tricolored ribbons, drew carts containing the 
fruits and products of the earth. Numerous em- 
blems represented Agriculture, Commerce, Manu- 
factures, Industry, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, 
and Peace. Robespierre marched far in advance of 
his colleagues, who every minute were growing 
more envious of his self-exaltation, and were be- 
ginning to mutter their disapproval of his vanity, 
conceit, and egoism. 

In the centre of the Field was a large plat- 
form. Couthon, St. Just, and Lebas, the inti- 
mate friends and chief supporters of Robespierre, 
were in conspicuous positions, while the other 

1 Thy temple is on the mountains, in the air, on the 
waves ; 
Thou hast nothing of the past, thou hast nothing of 

the future, 
And without occupying it, thou fillest all the world. 
Which still cannot contain thee. 
326 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

deputies occupied seats at the foot of the stage. 
These men, feehng their humihation, filled the 
air with murmurs both loud and deep. Deaf to 
their complaints, blind to everything but his own 
exaltation, Robespierre still centred upon himself 
the attention of the people and amidst salvos of 
artillery proclaimed the Deity. 

On the way back from the Champ de Mars the 
deputies were sullen. " He invented God," said 
one, " that he might be His high priest." " He 
teaches us to adore God," said another, " that 
we may in time know how to obey a dictator." 
" Not satisfied in being a politician, he must also 
assume the role of pontiff." " It is but a step 
from the Capitol to the Tarpeian Rock." " Let 
him who would overthrow the Republic beware." 
" The spirit of Brutus yet survives." Such re- 
marks, accompanied with scowls and frowns, 
would at any other time have aroused the indig- 
nation and induced the denunciation of Robes- 
pierre, but he was too happy over his successful 
inauguration of the worship of God to allow 
such trifles on this day to ruffle the serenity of 
his mind. 

An act of the legislature did not change Athe- 
ists into Deists, and many of the members of 
the Convention looked upon the ceremony as a 
farce, a travesty, a silly, meaningless perform- 
ance more for the elevation of Robespierre than 
for the adoration of God. 

He had made a mistake in doing all the talk- 
ing among so many orators, a score of whom, no 
doubt, thought themselves far better fitted for the 

327 



ROBESPIERRE 

task than he was. Further than this he erred in 
monopohzing too much of the day's honor; he 
had not made a fair distribution of its dignities 
and consequently had aroused a spirit of envy and 
an antagonism that was to last. His conduct 
gave an opportunity to his enemies to create a 
suspicion as to his purpose and ambition. 

Although Robespierre's influence was never 
stronger in the Convention than at this point, 
it was his assumption and the confidence he had 
in himself to accomplish anything that caused 
his overthrow and destruction. 



328 



CHAPTER XXVI 

LAW OF THE 22ND PRAIRIAL ROBESPIERRE's 

FRIENDS URGE HIM TO SEIZE DICTATORSHIP, 

Two days after the Festival, Couthon, at the 
instance of Robespierre, proposed what is known 
as " the Law of the 22nd Prairial." A viler 
piece of Draconian legislation was never enacted. 
It provided for the reorganization of the Revo- 
lutionary Tribunal, increased its authority, en- 
larged the scope of its jurisdiction, deprived the 
accused of the right to be represented by counsel, 
and gave a partisan jury the power to condemn, 
even without testimony or proof, whenever their 
minds were satisfied by any evidence legal or 
moral. Every rule of law was ignored, every 
principle of justice was outraged. Those who 
were only suspected of disloyalty to the Revolu- 
tion or of treason against the Republic were 
subject to arrest and condemnation; even the 
members of the Convention were not exempt 
or excepted from the provisions of the act, in fact, 
the law was passed to terrify and deter those 
deputies who were the enemies of Robespierre. 
It required whip and spur to drive such a measure 
through the Convention, and in the course of the 
debate at the time of its consideration Ruamps 
declared : " If we allow this bill to pass, with- 
329 



ROBESPIERRE 

out an adjournment, there will be nothing left 
for us to do but to blow out our brains." 

" Since we are free from factions," said Robes- 
pierre, pointing to the vacant seat of Danton, 
"we discuss and vote at once; these demands 
for adjournment at a time like this are mere 
affectations." The measure, obnoxious and un- 
just as it was in all its features, passed that night, 
and the enemies of Robespierre feared for their 
heads. 

It was this Law of the 22nd Prairial that 
made possible the dreadful effusion of blood in 
the later days of the " Reign of Terror " and 
Robespierre may justly be held responsible, or at 
least indirectly so, for the executions during that 
period, if for no other reason than because of the 
part he took in securing the enactment of this 
infamous measure. 

lifter the Festival of the Supreme Being, 
Robespierre had received many threatening let- 
ters, and to insure his personal safety he urged 
the enactment of this iniquitous bill. To be able 
to secure such legislation shows the great power 
he possessed at this period of his career; the 
act itself was passed in the very pride and in- 
solence of conscious strength; but it was going 
too far, and it united all his enemies and marked 
the beginning of his downfall. 

The day after the passage of the measure the 
deputies fully realized the fact that it destroyed 
the inviolability of the parliament, and a resolu- 
tion was adopted providing that no member could 

330 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

be taken before the Revolutionary Tribunal 
without the consent of the Convention, 
i;^ On the day following, Robespierre appeared 
in the Convention and demanded the repeal of 
the said resolution. It was repealed. This was 
on the 24th Prairial in the second year of the 
Republic, June 12, 1794, and this date marks 
the high point in the political power and suprem- 
acy of Robespierre. He now stood at a dizzy 
height and it required a steady head and a sober 
brain to maintain his elevation. His conduct in 
relation to this act and the repeal of the resolu- 
tion evinced the spirit of the despot, and the 
minds of men were seized with dread and appre- 
hension. 

St. Just made matters worse by working and 
scheming for a dictatorship ; so impressed was he 
by the honor shown to his master by the people 
on the day of the fete that he thought the time 
was propitious for such a move. 

He laid his plan before Robespierre, but that 
austere patriot, apparently, would not listen to 
his temptations. St. Just, however, believed 
that Robespierre would waive aside the crown 
only until the applause of the people assured him 
that they were willing he should wear it, so St. 
Just continued his labors and endeavored quietly 
to enlist the support of his friends in the As- 
sembly; but his efforts in this direction met with 
no great success. Such a secret could not long 
be hidden, and it soon became street-corner com- 
ment. The matter had to be deftly handled, for 
331 



ROBESPIERRE 

the foes of Robespierre were already at work 
trying to injure his popularity by declaring that 
he was about to overthrow the Republic and as- 
sume the role of a despot. These stories were 
beginning to have their effect upon the public 
mind; fdt, although the people were willing to 
set up and worship their own idol, they did not 
want it turned into a tyrant. 

Feeling that his popularity was waning, Robes- 
pierre was wise enough to allay suspicion by pro- 
posing legislation that evinced the real revolu- 
tionary spirit, but his friends would not abate 
their efforts, and they kept dangling the prize 
before his ambition. " Woe to men," he ex- 
claimed, " who sum up the country in themselves 
and possess themselves of liberty as if their own 
property. Their country dies with them and the 
revolutions which they appropriate to themselves 
are but changes of servitude. No — no Crom- 
well, not even I, myself." 

The friends of Robespierre grew impatient un- 
der the assaults made upon them by their enemies 
in the Convention. "Where is Danton?" was 
their cry. " Would to God that Robespierre pos- 
sessed the thirst of power of which they accuse 
him. The Republic needs an ambitious man; he 
is only a wise one." 

Whether or not Robespierre at this period of 
his life was influenced solely by patriotic mo- 
tives or was wanting in the courage and audacity 
necessary to usurp the power of the Republic 
will never be known. The rod of empire was 
lying close at hand, and he needed only the nerve 
332 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

that was necessary to seize and sway it. But 
Robespierre was not of heroic mold; he did not 
possess the spirit of a Caesar, a CromWell, or a 
Napoleon, and it was the resolute courage of 
such men he required if he was to play the part 
of a usurper and a dictator. " He had," says 
Mignet, " at this critical period a prodigious 
force at his disposal. The lowest orders sup- 
ported him, . . . the armed force of Paris 
was at his back, he ruled with absolute sway at 
the Jacobins', and all important places were filled 
with his creatures." 

If Robespierre ever did contemplate seizing 
the reins of government and proclaiming himself 
dictator, by his hesitation and timidity he allowed 
the chance to slip away. A temporizing policy 
cannot win in so desperate a game; to secure the 
prize one must strike quickly and while the iron 
is hot; delay loses the opportunity. Success 
alone seems to justify the crime of usurpation. 

The position Robespierre occupied was a pre- 
carious, a dangerous one. To maintain it called 
for the exercise of the greatest judgment and 
skill. Sophistry, pretension, cant, and plati- 
tudes no longer availed. What he needed were 
courage, resolution, audacity. 

He was like a pilot in a stormy sea near a 
rocky coast, and he had to know the waters he 
was sailing. " Revolutions," said Danton, " are 
like long and difficult voyages during which one 
must expect the wind to blow from all quarters 
at once. The open sea is often less dangerous 
than the harbor, for which one makes with all 

333 



ROBESPIERRE 

sails set and never a thought of the narrow 
shoal on which, sometimes, the ship goes down." 
^ If Robespierre had assumed absolute power 
and had wielded it temperately under a condition 
of restored peace and order, he would have been 
lauded even by many of his enemies and history 
would have placed his name among the illustri- 
ous, for his act would have been vindicated by 
his success. In such matters it is treason to de- 
sire but a triumph to acquire. 
^If he had succeeded in putting an end to 
carnage and in establishing order it would have 
meant much for his fame and reputation; for 
then, instead of being held responsible for the 
excesses of the " Reign of Terror," he would 
have been praised for having caused their cessa- 
tion and no doubt even forgiven for the part 
he had taken in their perpetration. The world 
is blind to the errors and crimes of its successful 
men. 

The vast majority of the people were tired of 
the slaughter and violence and longed for a set- 
tled government. One of the instructive but sad 
lessons of history is that men as a rule do not 
mind the thraldom if the yoke does not gall. 
When Augustus assumed the purple and usurped 
the power of the republic, " he artfully con- 
trived," says Gibbon, " that in the enjoyment of 
plenty the Romans should lose the memory of 
freedom." 

The conditions in France were the same as 
they had been, at one time, in Rome. " I see," 
said Catiline to Cicero, " I see in the republic a 

334 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

head without a body and a body without a head. 
I will be this head which is wanting." This is 
the language that the partisans of Robespierre 
would fain have heard him utter. Usurpation 
at this point was not impossible and his success 
might have changed the whole future history of 
France. 

It was only a few years subsequent to the 
period of which we are writing that Napoleon, 
under the prestige and glory of his military suc- 
cesses, seized the Consulate and afterwards 
crowned himself emperor of the French. 
jx At one time Robespierre declared that it was 
the ambition of his heart to have the Revolution 
end in himself. The moment was at hand to 
fulfil his wish, the course was open, but to reach 
the goal required courage and determination. 
Like Danton, at the critical point he drew back 
and lost the prize that was almost within touch. 



335 



CHAPTER XXVII 

CATHARINE THEOT MADAME DE SAINT-AM- 

ARANTHE HER EXECUTION THE REIGN OF 

DEATH. 

Robespierre's troubles now accumulated on all 
sides, and his enemies, fearful and watchful, took 
advantage of every turn in the condition of af- 
fairs. 

An old woman named Catharine Theot, resid- 
ing in a dreary suburb of Paris, called herself 
the mother of God and claimed to be endowed 
with foresight and prophecy. Her surname, 
Theot, was changed, because of her pretensions, 
to Theos; this was done in ridicule by her ene- 
mies, but the substitution was adopted seriously 
by her friends and helped to increase their faith 
in her powers. 

Catharine was born on March 5, 17 16, at Bar- 
renton near Avranches. From her youth she 
was peculiar in her conduct and at last developed 
into a mad visionary. She declared herself to 
be the reincarnation of Mother Eve and in the 
reign of Louis XVI was shut up in the Salpe- 
triere as a lunatic, but was released in 1782. 

This poor creature gathered about her quite 
a following. Dom Gerle, a monk of the Order 
of St, Bruno, constituted himself her chief dis- 
336 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

ciple; in fact, her high priest. He was a friend 
of Robespierre and had, at times, visited him 
at his lodgings. Catharine and Dom Gerle es- 
tablished a kind of church or cult, and although 
the services were conducted quietly, almost se- 
cretly, they were well attended. 

When this old Pythoness sat upon the stool of 
prophecy, she professed to see in her hallucina- 
tions the coming Messiah in the person of Robes- 
pierre, and she declared that he was to be, in 
time, the Savior of the world. 

• Far removed from the hovel of this old hag, 
in sumptuous apartments in a polite quarter of 
the city, lived a woman of incomparable beauty. 
She was known as Madame de Saint-Amaranthe. 
She was aristocratic in her tastes and claimed 
to be the same in her associations, but she was so 
free in her manner of life that a doubt was cast 
upon her respectability. She claimed to be the 
widow of an officer who lost his life at the door 
of the bed-chamber of the queen, while gallantly 
defending her Majesty from attack on the morn- 
ing of October 6, 1789. 

Madame de Saint-Amaranthe professed great 
admiration for Robespierre. She was anxious 
to meet him, believing, no doubt, that she could 
fascinate with her arts and her beauty this man 
who had been invincible and proof against the 
seductive charms of all other women. She saw 
in him the means of restoring peace and this was 
the end she was eager to attain. Hearing oi 
the prophecies of Catharine, she had a long in- 
terview with the witch, and after the celebration 
22 337 



ROBESPIERRE 

of some mystic rites she was admitted into the 
mysterious circle. 

Vadier, an implacable enemy of Robespierre, 
sent a spy to gather information and to pry into 
the secrets of the sect; his report resulted in the 
arrest of Catharine, Dom Gerle, Madame de 
Saint-Amaranthe and her daughter, together 
with a number of ardent but less distinguished 
disciples. They were brought before the bar of 
the court, and among other things it was shown 
that the old sibyl in her incantations had de- 
clared that she was the mother of Robespierre 
as well as the mother of God. Of course the 
enemies of Robespierre took every opportunity in 
view of these disclosures to hold him up to public 
ridicule, and they even went so far as to circulate 
the story that he was conspiring to establish a 
religious as well as a political despotism, and 
in corroboration of their assertions they referred 
to his conduct upon the occasion of the Festival 
of the Supreme Being. 

Robespierre's blood was up, and he demanded 
that the Committee of Public Safety should stop 
a prosecution which had for its only purpose 
his personal humiliation. Fouquier Tinville, 
the public prosecutor, declared that he was with- 
out power to discontinue the proceedings in view 
of the fact that they had been directed by a de- 
cree of the Convention. It is certain, however, 
that some authority intervened, for Catharine 
died in prison and Dom Gerle survived the Revo- 
lution many years; but Madame de Saint-Am- 
aranthe, her daughter, and some other persons 
338 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

connected with the delusion went to the scaffold. 

A story put in circulation by the enemies of 
Robespierre was that Madame de Saint-Amar- 
anthe, who was anxious to secure the safety of 
her family by polite attentions to Robespierre, 
induced a well-known actor named Trial to bring 
him to her house, where he was most sumptu- 
ously entertained and dined, and while " the 
monster was soaked in wine " he grew communi- 
cative and confidential and revealed some im- 
portant state and political secrets. 

The next day he was informed that while in 
a mellow mood he had dropped in conversation 
some things he ought not to have divulged. He 
at once required a list of the names of all that 
were of the company and also of the servants 
that waited at the table; and in a few days the 
hostess, her family, friends, and domestics were 
marked for death. 

This is one of the rumors that, although with- 
out any foundation in truth, Robespierre's ab- 
stemiousness being well known, seriously injured 
his reputation, and subjected him to pub- 
lic execration. 

The whole story falls to the ground when it 
is stated that Robespierre was present at the 
reception in May while the archives of the pre- 
fecture of police show that Madame was arrested 
in March and committed to the prison of Saint 
Pelagic about the beginning of April, 1794. 

The so-called attack upon Robespierre's life 
by Cecile Regnault and the expressed intention 
of L' Admiral to assassinate him were used by his 

339 



ROBESPIERRE 

rivals and enemies as a means to injure his popu- 
larity. The Committee of Public Safety caused 
the arrest of Cecile's father and aunt because 
in their dwelling were found hanging on the 
walls the portraits of Louis XVI and Marie 
Antoinette; her two brothers also were arrested, 
but were subsequently discharged upon proof 
that they had been soldiers in the army. The 
mistress of L'Admiral and a citizen who had 
dined with him a few days before his arrest, also 
were taken into custody; even the porter of 
the house in which Collot was attacked was in- 
cluded in the list for no other reason than that 
he did not rejoice when the assassin was ar- 
rested. An actress who had known Baron de 
Batz (the latter was supposed to be one of the 
conspirators with Cecile) was also apprehended; 
and, worst of all, her maid Nicolle, a young girl 
only sixteen years of age, was named in the 
warrant. 

A group of prisoners, forty-eight in num- 
ber, including Cecile, L'Admiral, Madame de 
Saint-Amaranthe, and her daughter, all repre- 
sented as the victims of Robespierre's vengeance, 
were sent to the scaffold. 

The guillotine had been removed to the east- 
ern end of the city, and the long line of tum- 
brils rolled through the crowded section of St. 
Antoine. To make the procession more impres- 
sive, it was directed by the authorities that the 
condemned, who filled eight guillotine carts, 
should be clothed in red, the color of the garb 
of assassins. The march lasted three hours. Of 
340 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

course it was generally known that many of the 
condemned were entirely innocent, and in no 
way connected with the attempt on Robespierre's 
life. His enemies studiously circulated the re- 
port that these arrests and executions were at his 
instance and the people began to lose faith in 
the integrity of a man who was so prodigal of 
blood as to sacrifice even the innocent in a de- 
sire to avenge a personal wrong. 

Against slaughter so useless and indiscrimi- 
nate, Robespierre earnestly protested. " Then 
why do you not attend the meetings of the com- 
mittee and aid in picking out the guilty, instead 
of standing aloof and complaining," said the 
irascible Vadier. " You are our tyrant." Ro- 
bespierre grew angry and declared he would 
retire and never again appear at the sessions of 
the committee, and he kept his word. For six 
weeks he absented himself from the committee 
and the Convention and attended only the meet- 
ings of the Jacobins. 

This absence unquestionably relieves him, in 
a great measure, from personal responsibility, 
so far as the carnage of that period is concerned. 
He, no doubt, was kept well posted by his friends, 
Couthon and St. Just, as to what was happen- 
ing; and, although his name appears during this 
time signed to a number of public documents, 
he took no active part in the executive and legis- 
lative functions of the government. 

In the meantime there was no break in the 
line of executions ; the death carts, crowded with 
victims, rumbled through the streets on their way 
341 



ROBESPIERRE 

to the scaffold; there had been no time in the 
history of the Revolution when the lives of citi- 
zens seemed so insecure. In this wild carnival 
of blood, a former maid of Marie Antoinette 
was condemned and executed for having once 
dressed the hair of the queen with a white cock- 
ade. The death penalty was inflicted upon 
scores of persons for charges as trivial. " Alone 
and unopposed, the Committee of Public Safety 
struck numberless blows from one end of the 
kingdom to the other." France was bleeding 
at every pore. 

In the cities of Nantes, Bordeaux, Marseilles, 
and Toulon, it seemed as if the furies of hell 
had been let loose only to conceive methods of 
torture that would add to the horrors of death. 
" Republican Baptisms," " Republican Mar- 
riages," and " Battues " were the names playfully 
given to some of these methods of wholesale 
slaughter. Hundreds of persons would be 
crowded into vessels which would be towed out 
into deep water and scuttled; a man and a wo- 
man would be bound together and tossed into the 
river; or great numbers of victims would be 
arranged in rank and file and torn to pieces with 
grape and cannister. Three hundred orphaned 
children of the Vendean counter-revolutionists 
were taken from prison by night and drowned 
in the Loire. The land was drenched with 
blood and the rivers ran red to the sea. France 
was in a delirium ; it seemed all a ghastly dream. 

It is impossible to estimate the number of vic- 
tims sacrificed, but in Nantes alone it is said 

342' 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

that thirty thousand perished during the " Reign 
of Terror." 

The prisons in Paris were filled with suspected 
persons. At one time they numbered between 
seven and eight thousand. Crowds' of prison- 
ers, arriving at the gates for admission, passed 
others who were on their way to the scaffold. 
Commiserating with each other they bravely ex- 
changed friendly salutations. 

There was a time, prior to the period of which 
we are speaking, when the prisoners were sup- 
plied with the comforts of life, and even with 
the luxuries, if they were able to pay for them; 
but now all classes were huddled together in- 
discriminately, even indecently; they ate at com- 
mon tables and were served with the plainest 
food which was not only meanly prepared but 
was also of poor quality and unwholesome. The 
records of that period show that the accused were 
no longer confined to the aristocratic classes, for 
among the condemned were tailors, shoemakers, 
butchers, farmers, hairdressers, sempstresses, 
publicans, and even laboring men. 
C Spies were introduced into the prisons and 
mingled with the inmates. These inquisitive 
wretches overheard the conversations, watched 
the conduct of the prisoners, and marked many 
of them for slaughter. The lists they submitted 
at the end of each day were called by the gaol- 
ers " the evening journal." The flimsiest and 
most insubstantial charges were sufficient to sup- 
port an accusation: one prisoner, for instance, 
was accused of having used aristocratic language ; 
343 



ROBESPIERRE 

another, of having drunk on a certain day when 
a defeat of the armies was announced. Every 
word, every look, every act was noted. To re- 
tain the confidence of their employers and to 
show that they were vigilant and diligent in their 
employment, the spies could not afford to have 
the number of victims diminish and in conse- 
quence they did not hesitate to trump up false 
charges. 

During the long nights in that period of ter- 
ror, sleep was almost impossible, for the cold- 
hearted gaolers purposely excited alarms by 
rattling chairs and unbarring the doors. The sus- 
pense was terrible, for no one knew what mo- 
ment he or she would be summoned to death, and 
under the terrific strain suicide was not infre- 
quent. 

When the virtuous Malesherbes and several 
members of his family were called upon to mount 
the cart, his daughter hastily sought out among 
the prisoners her friend, Mademoiselle Som- 
breuil, to bid her good-by, and with rapture ex- 
claimed : " You had once the happiness, during 
the September Massacres, to save your father, 
and I am now going to die with mine." This 
is only one of the many instances of supreme 
courage in those days of agony. Death had lost 
its terrors and resolution had usurped the place 
of fear. 

General Loiserolles, a nobleman by nature as 

well as by birth, was a prisoner at Saint Lazare. 

While standing at the grate, one day, listening 

to the calling of the death list, he heard the name 

344 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

of his son, who at that moment was asleep. 
Promptly the old man answered : " I am Loise- 
rolles," and at once stepped forward, took his 
place in the column, and went bravely to the 
scaffold. " Greater love hath no man than this." 
Sad to relate, however, this noble and self-sac- 
rificing act of the father did not save the son, 
for the latter was subsequently brought before 
the tribunal and condemned to death. 

So great was the slaughter in the days of the 
" Terror " that a special sewer had to be con- 
structed to carry off from the guillotine the blood 
of the victims. 

The Revolutionary Tribunal had no semblance 
of a court of justice, it had become a charnel 
house. The judges, jurors, and prosecuting offi- 
cers seemed lost to every sentiment of humanity. 
No mercy was shown even to mothers. One 
woman had her infant torn from her breast on 
the platform of the guillotine, and another was 
delivered of a child while on her way to execu- 
tion. The cruel work was not interrupted by 
such incidents. There was no sympathy for the 
afflicted. A prisoner brought to the bar who 
had been stricken with paralysis and deprived of 
his speech was brutally told by the presiding 
judge that it was not his tongue that was wanted 
but his head. 

M. Fleury, a prisoner confined in the Luxem- 
bourg, wrought up to desperation by the calami- 
ties that had befallen him, wrote a letter to 
Dumas, one of the revolutionary judges, in which 
he said : " Man of blood, thou hast murdered 

345 



ROBESPIERRE 

my family and there is no reason why thou 
shouldst not condemn me to the same fate, for 
I declare to thee that I participate in their senti- 
ments." Dumas handed the letter to Fouquier 
Tinville, the prosecuting officer, saying : " Here 
is a little note — read it." " This gentleman," 
replied Fouquier, " is in a great hurry ; he must 
be satisfied." The prisoner was brought at once 
to the bar, charged with conspiracy, named as 
the accomplice of persons he had never known, 
and in an hour was on his way to the scaffold. 

To expedite the executions, Fouquier had the 
guillotine erected in the hall of the tribunal, and 
had the accused arraigned and tried in lots. 
This wholesale and summary method of slaugh- 
ter seemed to offend, or at least to meet with the 
disapproval of, even some of the most sangui- 
nary members of the Convention. " What ! " 
cried Collot d'Herbois in an apparent transport 
of indignation, " Wouldst thou then demoralize 
death itself ? " The trial of prisoners " en 
masse " was soon abandoned and the scaffold 
was removed from the court-room. 

Next to the hall of the tribunal a printing 
office was located, and as the prisoners were 
found guilty their names were handed through 
a hole in the wall and after the adjournment of 
the court the list was published for the informa- 
tion of the public. Newsboys sold the " Bulle- 
tin of the Tribunal " under the very windows 
of the prisons, crying out : " Here are the 
names of those who have gained the prizes in the 
lottery of Sainte Guillotine." It can easily be 
346 




FOUgUIER TIXVILLE 
Trom an engraving in the collection of William J. Latta, Esq. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

imagined with what eagerness the prisoners 
bought the papers and with what sohcitude they 
scanned the hsts. 

In all this time of blood, the centre of attrac- 
tion was the guillotine. It must be borne in 
mind that this bloody instrument stood open to 
the public view in busy and crowded 'sections of 
the city. Originally it occupied the Carrousel; 
afterwards it was removed to the Place Louis 
XV, where it stood close to a great statue of 
Liberty; subsequently it was erected in the fau- 
bourg Saint Antoine near the ruins of the Bas- 
tile; after remaining here for a short time it 
was set up in an open space in the neighborhood 
of the Barriere du Trone; and finally it was 
brought back to the Place Louis XV, where it 
remained during the closing scenes of the Revo- 
lution. 

The community had grown so pitiless, their 
sensibilities deadened, no doubt, by becoming 
accustomed to the terrible spectacles they daily 
witnessed, that men, women, and children gath- 
ered about the scaffold and watched the execu- 
tions without emotion. Seats were provided for 
the public and sold as at a theatre. A special 
space was reserv^ed for the women of the mar- 
kets in recognition of the part they had taken 
in leading the mob to Versailles on the 5th day 
of October, 1789, and from morning until night 
these beldams, as pitiless as the Fates, sat in 
the shadow of the guillotine knitting socks and 
keeping count as the heads fell into the basket. 

From August 17, 1792, to October 2, 1793, 
347 



ROBESPIERRE 

a little more than a year, the period in which 
Danton was supreme, the executions in Paris 
were ninety in number. From October 2, 1793, 
to April 5, 1794, about six months, when he 
virtually had withdrawn from active participa- 
tion in public life and was spending much of 
his time at Arcis, there were 552 executions; no ^ 
wonder he desired a reaction. 

From April 5, 1794, the date of Danton's death, 
to July 28, 1794, the day when Robespierre went 
to the scaffold, a space of three months and three 
weeks, the executions reached the appalling num- 
ber of 2,085. " The very air," exclaimed 
Fouche, " is full of poniards." For this dread- 
ful carnage Robespierre was held responsible, 
when in truth he was endeavoring to check it. 
" Death — always death ! and the scoundrels 
throw it all on me," he is said to have ex- 
claimed in private, time and again. " What a 
memory I shall leave behind me if this lasts. 
Life to me is a burden." 

It was impossible to make people believe that 
his influence in the committee was not strong 
enough to stop this slaughter if he so desired, 
and consequently he was held to blame for it. 

" To the outer world and to posterity," writes 
Stephens, " Robespierre has seemed the ruling 
power of the Great Committee; but, in fact, he 
earned neither all the praise nor all the blame 
which has been cast upon it and upon him." 

Robespierre was elected by the Convention a 
member of the Committee of Public Safety on 
July 27, 1793, in the place of Gasparin, who re- 

348 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

signed owing to illness. He thus, for the first 
time in his political career, held an official posi- 
tion which made him one of the actual rulers of 
France, for it was this body that was the execu- 
tive head and force of the nation. The commit- 
tee was not finally constituted under the reorgan- 
ization until about the middle of September. At 
this time it was composed of twelve members. 
Of these, Carnot, Billaud-Varennes, Collot d'Her- 
bois, Prieur of the Marne, Prieur of the Cote 
d'Or, Jean Bon Saint Andre, and Robert Lindet 
were men of action and of independent spirit, and 
were in no wise influenced or controlled in their 
political conduct by Robespierre. Herault de 
Sechelles was an adherent of Danton. Barere 
was a trimmer, who served any party so long as 
it was to his interest to do so, but in no sense of 
the word was he a supporter or follower of Robes- 
pierre. It will thus be seen that Robespierre was 
in the minority, and really had but two friends in 
the committee upon whom he could depend, Cou- 
thon and St. Just. Even after the removal of 
Herault de Sechelles, who went to the scaffold 
with Danton, the conditions were not changed. 

It is true that Robespierre appeared in the eye 
of the public as the creative and controlling power 
in the committee, but the reason for this can eas- 
ily be given. Men like Carnot and Billaud were 
not conspicuous speakers in the Convention, nor 
idols of the mob ; in fact, they were indifferent to 
that popularity which Robespierre so assiduously 
cultivated, and they did not object to his appear • 
ing as their mouthpiece in the Convention so long 

349 



ROBESPIERRE 

as he did not interfere with their work and plans. 
In truth, they often used his popularity and well- 
known incorruptibility as a defence for their 
methods. It was in this way he was made to 
appear as the dominating spirit in the committee 
and was held responsible for its acts, when, in 
reality, he had but little influence in its coun- 
cils. 



350 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

Robespierre's enemies plot his downfall — 
robespierre grows supine. 

The king, the queen, the Girondins, the He- 
bertists, the Dantonists, had all gone to the scaf- 
fold. Robespierre was the most prominent man 
in the Republic. To maintain his position, how- 
ever, and to restore peace required the further 
shedding of blood. Billaud-Varennes, Collot 
d'Herbois, Tallien, Barras, and Fouche should 
have been sacrificed or at least rendered power- 
less ; then he could have closed the " Reign of 
Terror " and abolished the Committee of Public 
Safety and the Revolutionary Tribunal. Hav- 
ing gone so far, a little further blood letting 
would not have added much more to the cost of 
the Revolution, especially in view of the character 
of the men that would have had to be immolated. 

Collot d'Herbois, the Nero of Lyons, and Bil- 
laud-Varennes were both ferocious revolutionists 
and gave no signs of abating their methods. Of 
the latter Garat said : " // faiiche dans les tetes 
comme un autre dans les pres." — " He mows 
down men as another would grass." In the Con- 
vention he advocated the most sanguinary meas- 
ures, and was one of the fiercest tigers in that 
jungle. Napoleon pronounced him " the most 
351 



ROBESPIERRE 

cruel of all the creatures that ruled the * Reign of 
Terror.' " These men were envious of the ele- 
vation and prominence of Robespierre but they 
were cunning and affected a friendship until it 
was safe to show their enmity. 

Tallien was a corrupt, sordid creature, whose 
administration in Bordeaux had been scandalous. 
He had been made desperate by the arrest and im- 
prisonment of his mistress, the beautiful Therezia 
Cabarrus, whose life he feared would depend upon 
the word of Robespierre. Tallien well knew 
that appeals for mercy from a woman of her 
class would make no impression upon the stony 
heart of such a man. Her only safety, therefore, 
was in Robespierre's overthrow and to this end 
Tallien bent all his energy. 

Barras and Fouche hated Robespierre and 
stood in mortal dread of his power. They were 
a mean, contemptible pair of rascals, whom he 
had threatened; they, in turn, were only waiting 
for an opportunity to strike. They were men 
not to be ignored, were born conspirators, utterly 
unscrupulous, of great invention and endless re- 
sources. The ruling ambition of Fouche was to 
be Chief of Police. He possessed to a refined de- 
gree every attribute of the spy, and he followed 
his victim like a sleuthhound. Both belonged to 
that class or faction that St. Just said desired 
to make Liberty a prostitute. 

These were the men whom Robespierre had to 
fear; their banishment or imprisonment would 
have opened the way for a restoration of peace 

and order. 

352 




EILLAUD-VARENNES 

From an engraving in the collection of William J. Latta, Esq. 
After a painting by Raffet 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

There can be no question that at this time 
Robespierre was tired of the slaughter, and longed 
for a reaction and for the establishment of a gov- 
ernment other than by committee. " Robespierre 
perished," says Lavasseur de la Sarthe, " at the 
very moment when he was preparing to return to 
a system of justice and humanity." Napoleon 
told O'Meara that he had seen letters written by 
Robespierre to his brother, who was the national 
representative with the army at Nice, in which 
he clearly stated that it was his determination to 
end the " Reign of Terror." 

About this time Robespierre received a depu- 
tation from the department of Aisne, which com- 
plained of the operations of the government and 
chided him for absenting himself from the public 
sittings of the Convention. " The Convention," 
he replied, " gangreened as it is with corrup- 
tion, has no longer the power to save the Repub- 
lic. Both will perish. The proscription of the 
patriots is the order of the day." Such language 
aroused the anger and suspicion of his enemies 
and put on guard so wily, subtle, and desperate 
an antagonist as Billaud-Varennes. 

During this period, when Robespierre should 
have displayed the greatest vigor, he sought se- 
clusion for hours at a time in the forest of 
Meudon or under the trees of St. Cloud, wan- 
dering about with book in hand, meditating, 
doubtless, upon that government he had formed 
in his mind : a republic in which God was to be 
revered, where virtue was to be practised, that 
would provide universal education and an open 

23 353 



ROBESPIERRE 

franchise, that would impose just taxation, and 
would guarantee equality before the law. 

Nature was unkind when she instilled ideals 
so lofty into the mind of a man whose ability 
was not equal to the task of carrying them into 
effect. If it was his purpose to make an effort 
to secure these blessings and privileges for his 
country, he could not afford to be moping through 
the woods. 

For hours, too, he would remain in his room 
immersed in study, keeping in touch with the 
outer world through the medium of his confi- 
dential friends, Couthon and St. Just. He 
seemed possessed of a spirit of irresolution. Fear- 
ing to be left behind, he yet did not know how to 
keep up in the race. 

A languor like that which overcame Danton 
was paralyzing his energy. His friends ap- 
pealed to him to come out of his lethargy. Cou- 
thon urged him to act. St. Just tried to instil 
into his master the enthusiasm of his own spirit. 
" Strike quietly and strongly," he said. " Dare ! 
that is the secret of revolutions." 

Out of the past came the words of Danton 
ringing in his ears : " A nation in revolution is 
like the bronze boiling and foaming and purify- 
ing itself in the cauldron. Not yet is the statue 
of Liberty cast. Fiercely boils the metal; have 
an eye on the furnace or the flame will surely 
scorch you." 



354 



CHAPTER XXIX 

Robespierre's last speech in the conven- 
tion 

To meet the conditions, Robespierre, instead 
of organizing his forces and making ready for 
battle, spent his time in composing a long speech. 
It was written with even more than his usual 
care. During its preparation, for the sake of 
inspiration no doubt, he visited Ermenonville to 
meditate at the tomb of his master, Jean Jacques 
Rousseau. 

When he delivered his oration in the Conven- 
tion he was given the closest attention, but un- 
fortunately, in the course of his remarks, he re- 
flected upon Cambon, a worthy and reliable man, 
who demanded an immediate retraction of the of- 
fensive utterances. Realizing at once that he 
had committed an error, Robespierre endeavored 
to make amends by a half-hearted, halting apol- 
ogy; but he only made matters worse by his 
mangled explanation. He committed a further 
mistake by plainly intimating that there were a 
number of men proscribed who would soon be 
called to the bar to answer for their crimes. 
This was worse even than naming them out- 
right, for it left every man in the Convention 
uncertain as to his fate. He threatened without 
355 



ROBESPIERRE 

striking, and he united his enemies in a common 
effort to overthrow him. He had made it ap- 
pear that their safety depended upon his de- 
struction. 

In this remarkable speech he said in part: 
" The revolutions which up to this day have 
changed the fate of empires have had for their 
object only a change of dynasty or the transition 
of power from one to many. The French Revo- 
lution is the first which was founded upon the 
theory of the rights of mankind and the princi- 
ples of justice. Other revolutions only incite am- 
bition — ours imposes virtue. The Republic has 
glided, if we may so speak, between all factions, 
but it has found their power organized around it 
and has also been incessantly persecuted since 
its birth in the person of every man of good faith 
who fought for it. The friends of liberty seek 
to overthrow the power of tyrants by the force of 
truth — tyrants seek to destroy the defenders of 
liberty by calumny — they give the name of 
tyranny even to the ascendancy of the principles 
of truth. . . . This word, dictatorship, is, 
however, possessed of magical effect. It withers 
liberty, it destroys the Republic. . . . What 
terrible use the enemies of the Republic have 
made of the name only of a Roman magistracy. 

" They call me a tyrant. If I were so, they 
would grovel at my feet. I would gorge them 
with gold; I would assure to them the right of 
committing every crime. If I were so, the kings 
whom we have vanquished, far from discovering 
356 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

to me what tender interest they take in our lib- 
erty, would lend me their aid; I should make a 
compact with them. Tyranny is attained by the 
assistance of robbers. What becomes of those 
who combat them ? They go to the tomb and to 
immortality. Which is the tyrant who protects 
me? Which is the faction to which I belong? 
It is yourselves. Truth has doubtless its power, 
its wrath, and its despotism. It has touching 
and terrible accents which resound forcibly in 
pure hearts as well as in guilty consciences; and 
which falsehood can no more imitate than Sal- 
moneus could imitate the thunder of heaven." 

He criticised in turn the several departments 
of the government. " In whose hands are the 
finances?" he exclaimed. "In the hands of 
known rogues, of the Cambons, the Mallarmes, 
the Ramels." In referring to the war depart- 
ment, he reflected upon even Carnot and de- 
clared : " The military administration wraps it- 
itself up in a suspicious authority." He warned 
the deputies to keep a vigilant eye on Belgium; 
and intimated that a great military victory might 
be a menace to the Republic. 

The Committee of Public Safety also came in 
for a share of censure. " We assert that there 
exists a conspiracy against the public liberty; 
that it owes its strength to a criminal coalition 
which intrigues in the very bosom of the Conven- 
tion; that this coalition has accomplices in the 
Committee of Public Safety and in the bureaus 
of that committee which they govern; that mem- 
357 



ROBESPIERRE 

bers of the Committee of Public Safety are en- 
gaged in this plot ; that the coalition thus formed 
is striving to ruin the patriots and the country. 

" The remedy for the evil is to punish the 
traitors, to renew the bureaus, to purify the Com- 
mittee of Public Safety, and to establish the gov- 
ernment under the supreme authority of the Na- 
tional Convention. Such are the principles. If 
it is impossible to claim them without passing 
for an ambitious man, I shall conclude that prin- 
ciples are proscribed and that tyranny reigns 
among us, but I shall not, on that account, be 
silent, for what fault can be found with a man 
who is in the right, and who is ready to die for 
his country ? I am made to combat crime — not 
to govern it. The time is not yet arrived when 
good men can serve their country with im- 
punity." 

After stating that he had been charged with 
all the sins and excesses of the Revolution, he 
added : " I know well who these calumniators 
are, but I dare not name them at this moment 
and in this place. I cannot resolve to tear off 
entirely the veil which covers this profound mys- 
tery of iniquity, but I can positively affirm that 
among the authors of this plot are the agents of 
a system of corruption and extravagance, the 
most powerful of any means Invented by for- 
eigners to destroy the Republic, and that they 
are the impure apostles of atheism and the im- 
morality of which it is the basis. 

" I know well," he continued, " who my ene- 
mies are. To-day they caress me anew, their 
358 



/• 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

language is more affectionate than ever; three 
days back they were ready to denounce me as a 
Catihne; to-day they attribute to me the virtues 
of a Cato." 

The speech left too much unsaid; its sugges- 
tions and insinuations created suspicions and 
dread in the minds of his personal enemies and 
political opponents. It intimated that he had 
vengeance in store for those who had condemned 
him and that they, in time, would be the victims 
of his wrath. In this speech he had written his 
death warrant. 

When he descended from the tribune, there 
was an oppressive, an ominous hush in the hall ; 
friends hesitated to applaud and enemies feared 
to hiss. 

Lecointre moved that the speech be printed, 
but Bourdon de I'Oise opposed the motion on the 
ground that it contained matters that should be 
carefully considered in committee before they 
were published broadcast. A controversy took 
place and the house was thrown into a tumult. 
Robespierre was violently assailed by Panis, one 
of his former partisans, who declared that his 
name with several others had been placed in a 
list of proscribed. 

Fouche had been industriously circulating the 
report among the deputies that many of their 
number were marked for destruction. Although 
concealed by day, for fear of arrest, he sneaked 
around under cover of night and disturbed the 
sleep and rest of the deputies with the startling 
information he imparted. He was a most plaus- 
359 



ROBESPIERRE 

ible liar, a master of invention, and his rumors 
were bearing fruit. 

Assailed from all sides, Robespierre refused 
to give a single name. He met the attack of 
his enemies, hovi^ever, without flinching. 
" Throwing aside my buckler," he exclaimed, " I 
have offered myself uncovered to my enemies. 
I retract nothing. I do not flatter anyone. I 
fear no one." " Name those whom you accuse," 
cried Charlier. " You who pretend to have the 
courage of virtue have also that of truth." But 
Robespierre remained silent, and at the first op- 
portunity left the Assembly. 

That night at the Jacobins' the meeting was 
crowded and enthusiastic. Robespierre received 
an ovation and was, by unanimous vote, requested 
to read his speech which the Convention had re- 
fused to print. It was a lengthy oration which 
took nearly two hours to deliver, but it was 
warmly received and punctuated with rapturous 
applause. 

In concluding his address Robespierre said : 
"This speech, which you have just heard, is my 
last will and testament. This I perceived to-day. 
The league of the wicked is so strong that I can- 
not hope to escape it. I fall without regret. I 
leave you my memory; it will be dear to you 
and you will defend it." 

The hall rang with shouts and protestations 
of loyalty. Henriot, in his enthusiasm, cried out 
that he still knew the way to the Convention and 
his words seemed to revive the drooping courage 
of Robespierre. Continuing, the latter said: 
360 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

" Separate the wicked from the weak, dehver the 
Convention from the villains who oppress it ; ren- 
der it the service it expects from you, as on the 
31st of May, and the 2nd of June. March and 
once more save liberty. If in spite of all our 
efforts we must fall, why then, my friends, you 
shall see me drink hemlock with composure." 

" No ! No ! " resounded on all sides. To make 
the scene more dramatic, the artist David, car- 
ried away by his enthusiasm, seized the orator 
by the hand and exclaimed in rapture : " I will 
drink the cup with thee ! " Other ardent sup- 
porters made like vows. Robespierre never 
seemed stronger in the affection of his friends 
and followers, though if they could have seen 
that the end was so near they might not have 
been so generous in their offers of personal sac- 
rifice. 

Billaud and Collot made several efforts to 
speak, but the audience was in no mood to listen 
to them, and when they persisted in being heard 
the greatest excitement prevailed; threats were 
made, knives were drawn, they were driven from 
the meeting, and fled for their lives. 



361 



CHAPTER XXX 

ROBESPIERRE ASSAILED IN THE CONVENTION — 

HIS ACCUSATION AND ARREST EXECUTION 

OF ROBESPIERRE AND HIS FRIENDS. 

The next morning when Robespierre appeared 
in the Convention, he was met with sullen looks. 
St. Just attempted to address the chamber, but 
was immediately interrupted by calls and howls 
from every quarter of the hall, Lebas came to 
his assistance, but by this time the Convention 
was in an uproar. Robespierre ascended the 
steps of the tribune, but his presence only in- 
creased the confusion. " Down with the tyrant," 
was the cry of the delegates. 

Tallien, wild with excitement, drew a dirk, 
which it is said his beloved Therezia had sent to 
him, and brandishing it in the air advanced in a 
threatening manner towards Robespierre. The 
latter tried to speak, but hesitated. "Look!" 
cried Gamier. " It is the blood of Danton 
that chokes him." "Is it Danton you avenge? 
Cowards ! Why did you not then defend him ? " 
was the pregnant answer. 

Billaud and Collot, remembering the treatment 
they had received the night before at the Jaco- 
bins', now took vengeance on their enemy and 
joined in the general denunciation. Robespierre 
362 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

made another effort to speak, but he was silenced 
by the bell of the chairman. Turning upon him 
he cried out in desperation : " President of As- 
sassins, will you not hear me ? " " How long is 
this man to be master of the Convention," cried 
Duval. " Ah ! " shrieked Freron, " it is no easy 
task to beat down a tyrant." Scott, in describing 
the scene, says : " Robespierre, like the hunter 
of classical antiquity when on the point of being 
torn to pieces by his own dogs, tried in vain to 
raise those screeching notes by which the Con- 
vention formerly had been terrified and put to 
silence." Turning to the Mountain he saw noth- 
ing but lukewarm friends and furious enemies; 
then addressing the Plain he cried : " I appeal 
to you, pure and virtuous men, and not to ruf- 
fians." In response they only scowled and mur- 
mured their threats. Dispirited and exhausted 
by fatigue and passion, he sank back into his 
seat, the very picture of defeat and despair; 
beads of perspiration stood upon his brow, his 
mouth foamed, his voice grew thick and husky, 
his language was incoherent. Overwhelmed, 
beaten down by his enemies who assailed him 
from all sides, he at last was compelled to sur- 
render, but it must be said to his credit that he 
did not at any point during these exciting scenes 
display the spirit of the craven; he neither 
cringed nor begged for quarter. 

A deputy named Louchet, who never before 

had addressed the Convention, rose and said : 

" No one will deny that Robespierre has played 

the master," and then, amidst shouts of approval, 

363 



ROBESPIERRE 

he moved his arrest. That of St. Just and of 
Couthon was also decreed, and at their own re- 
quest Lebas and Augustin Robespierre were in- 
cluded in the warrant. " I share the crimes of 
my brother," exclaimed Augustin ; " let me share 
his fate." As Robespierre passed out of the hall 
in the custody of an officer he muttered : " The 
Republic is lost, the brigands triumph." 

During the night, the friends of the prisoners 
made a last effort to arouse the Sections. The 
tocsin was rung and artillery was discharged at 
regular intervals. Henriot, commander of the 
National Guards, mounted a horse and charged 
through the district of St. Antoine like a mad- 
man, calling the citizens to arms ; but everything 
had been so quietly executed by the authorities 
and in so summary a manner that the people did 
not understand the meaning of this furious ap- 
peal. Henriot, who under the excitement had 
imbibed somewhat too freely of wine, was ar- 
rested, but was soon released from gaol by two 
hundred National Guards. 

It was midnight of July 2^, 1794. The streets 
around the City Hall were crowded with people 
ready to be led if Robespierre's friends had been 
alert, but there was no leader. The Mountain, 
the Jacobins, the Commune, and the National 
Guards were still loyal, but there was no real 
effort made to unite them against the Convention 
and the committee. In truth, Robespierre had 
" no organized force ; his partisans, though nu- 
merous, were not enlisted and incorporated." 

The day had been one of intense heat ; in fact, 
364 





E X T R A I T 

DU REGISTRE DES ARr£;t£s 

DUCOMIT^DE SALUTPUBLIC 

DE LA CONVENTION NATION ALE^ 

Du JoaXi'tnnvS jour di^KUltCajdaL- Van deuxiime de la 
Ri'puHique francahe une et indivisible. 
I 



SiLD ^=WeiLpi^ (xJ'armesj cJdfaiusjp cjtii^c/LKr^—- 







EXTRACT FKDM THE REGISTRY OF THE COJIMITTEE OF 

PUBLIC SAFETY 

]m-oiii tlie origina] in the collection of William J. Latta, Esq. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

during Thermidor and the greater part of the 
preceding month, the thermometer had not fallen 
even in the cool hours of the night below 65°. 
In the daytime, under the scorching rays of the 
sun, men and horses fell dead in the street ; such 
a period of oppressive and continued heat had 
not occurred within the memory of the oldest 
inhabitant. 

On the night in question the clouds had been 
gathering since sunset, and at last a terrific storm 
broke over the city, a heavy rain began to fall, 
accompanied by lightning and thunder, and the 
crowd soon scattered, running for shelter in every 
direction. So dissolved the last hope of Robes- 
pierre. He and his companions had listened to 
the shouts outside and so long as they continued 
there seemed to be a chance for rescue, but now 
all was silent. Suddenly through the corridor 
leading to the room in which the prisoners were 
confined, were heard approaching footsteps and 
the clinking of arms. The accused looked at one 
another, and each face revealed the same thought 
without the utterance of a word. " Kill me," 
said St. Just to Lebas. " I have something else 
to do," was the reply, and Lebas shot himself 
dead. Couthon tried to open his veins. Cof- 
finhal and the younger Robespierre leaped from 
the windows, the latter breaking his leg in the 
fall to the ground. 

It will, perhaps, always be a mooted question 
as to whether or not Robespierre shot himself; 
but the commonly accepted account is that Bour- 
don, leading a squad of soldiers, entered the 
365 



ROBESPIERRE 

room, pointed at Robespierre and said, " That is 
the man," whereupon a gendarme named Meda 
raised his gun, took deHberate aim, and fired. 
The wound inflicted was not fatal, but the lower 
jaw was broken and blood spurted over a paper 
lying on the table upon which Robespierre had 
just written the first two letters of his name, 
" Ro." It was the call his friends had persuaded 
him to sign and bore the names of Payan, Le- 
grand, Louvet, and Lerebours. " Brothers and 
friends, the country is in imminent danger," the 
proclamation read. " The wicked have mastered 
the Convention where they hold in chains the ' 
virtuous Robespierre. To arms ! To arms ! 
Let us not lose the fruits of the i8th of August 
and the 2nd of June. Death to the traitors ! " 
Had this spirited appeal been published, it might 
have had a hearty response and have saved the 
day; but, at this crucial point in his career, the 
nerve of Robespierre as usual failed him, and he 
hesitated to act at a time when promptitude was 
the essence of success. The influence of that 
very system of terror which he had helped to in- 
augurate and maintain seemed now, that he had 
fallen under its spell, to disable him as much as 
it did any of the victims that had heretofore per- 
ished beneath its cruel sway. 

Towards morning Robespierre was carried on 
a litter into another room and was laid upon a 
table, with his head resting at first on the back 
of a chair and afterwards on a box containing 
samples of mouldy army bread. A bloody hand- 
kerchief bound round his head, held his jaw 

366 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

in place. One cheek, his forehead and his eyes 
were all that could be seen of his face. He had 
on a blue coat — the same that he wore at the 
Festival of the Supreme Being, nankeen breeches, 
and white stockings, the latter in the struggle 
having fallen about his heels. 
, The committee sent a surgeon to dress the 
wounds. St. Just, brave and loyal to the last, 
stood at the side of his friend, watched over 
him tenderly, and ministered to his wants. Cou- 
thon was weak from loss of blood and Augustin 
Robespierre suffered untold agony with his 
broken leg. Henriot, half drunk, had taken ref- 
uge in a sewer, but, fished out by the guard, was 
sent to the Town Hall. Coffinhal escaped after 
his leap from the window, but was arrested a few 
days afterwards and sent to the scaffold. Lere- 
bours successfully avoided pursuit and reached 
Switzerland in safety. 

While Robespierre was lying on the table, his 
enemies came into the room and twitted him; 
even the clerks from the adjoining offices flocked 
around him, mocked him in his agony, and 
pricked him with the points of their penknives. 
Legendre, the butcher, insensate as the ox he 
slaughtered, scoffed at the man whose mere 
glance, in the past, could have made him cower. 
" Ha ! ha ! " he cried. " You for whom the Re- 
public was not vast enough are now content with 
a few feet of table space." " Tats toi, massa- 
cruer des boeufs " — " Silence, butcher of bul- 
locks," was the reply. 

When the blood gathered in his throat, Robes- 
367 



ROBESPIERRE 

pierre wiped his mouth on the sheepskin that 
formed the flap of a holster for a brace of pistols. 
By a singular coincidence the case bore the in- 
scription : " The Great Monarch ; Lecourt, 
Maker to the King." An on-looker gave him 
some sheets of paper to wipe the blood from his 
lips, and he thanked him saying : " Je vous re- 
mercie, Monsieur." Strangely enough, in his 
last moments he renounced the Jacobin form of 
speech to which he had been accustomed and 
which he had assiduously used since its intro- 
duction. 

Some one, moved by sympathy, no doubt, 
placed at his side a cup of vinegar and a sponge, 
and with these he occasionally moistened his lips 
which were now swollen and feverish. He kept 
his eyes closed and not a word escaped him; he 
suffered with the fortitude of a Stoic. 

Barras states, in his Memoirs, that an at- 
tendant surgeon, having picked up some of 
Robespierre's teeth that had fallen to the floor, 
placed them on the table, when " a gunner 
pounced upon them and exclaimed : " You 
scoundrel, I will keep these as a monument of 
execration." 

At three o'clock in the afternoon all the prison- 
ers were taken before the Revolutionary Tri- 
bunal. Robespierre, having already been declared 
an outlaw, was given short shrift, and was con- 
demned without a hearing. 

It was about seven o'clock in the evening of 
loth Thermidor, in the year second of the Re- 

368 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

public, using the language of the Revolution, 
which date in the Christian calendar was July 
28, 1794, when the carts containing the prisoners 
started for the scaffold. A more grewsome, 
wretched lot of men was never carried to execu- 
tion. There were the younger Robespierre, un- 
able to stand or sit upright because of his broken 
limb; Couthon, a paralytic, his garments covered 
with the blood that had oozed from his opened 
veins; Henriot, his face besmeared with gore 
and his shirt soiled with the mud of the sewer in 
which he had concealed himself; and the great 
Robespierre, his head tied up in a bandage to hold 
his broken jaw in position, his clothing soaked 
with blood. These made up so miserable a group 
of mortals that they ought to have induced pity 
in the hearts of even the merciless. 

The streets were thronged; every door, win- 
dow, and balcony was filled with spectators ; even 
the trees and the roofs of houses were utilized. 

The people were in a merry mood, as was 
evinced by the clapping of hands and the shouts 
of exultation. Women especially were enthusi- 
astic in their demonstrations. Every foot of the 
way the condemned were assailed with cries of: 
"Down with the tyrant!" 
'T Only a short time before this scene, Robes- 
pierre had been the most powerful man in France 
with the sceptre of supreme authority all but 
within his reach; now, fallen and degraded, suf- 
fering the greatest agony, carted like a common 
culprit to the scaffold, he was mocked and reviled 

1 24 369 



ROBESPIERRE 

by the very people whose destiny would have been 
in his hands had he possessed that resolution that 
was required to usurp the power. 

Gendarmes, riding their horses close to the 
tumbril, with their sabres would point out 
Robespierre to the people. He was leaning 
against the side of the cart, bound to it by cords 
to enable him to stand upright, quietly enduring 
the pain from his wound, which was greatly in- 
creased by the jolting of the vehicle over the 
rough surface of the highway. The rue St. 
Honore, which led from the Palais de Justice to 
the Place de la Revolution, was paved with large 
irregular stones. The tumbril was anything but 
an easy conveyance. It consisted of a floor of 
planks, without springs, on two high wheels; its 
sides were wider at the top than at the bottom, 
like a hay cart; there was no covering above, 
the prisoners being exposed to the public view; 
the cart was drawn by two Normandy grays, the 
executioner's assistants leading the horses by the 
bridles. 

" Kill him ! Kill him ! " was the cry of the 
hags that followed the cart. The procession 
stopped in front of the house of Duplay, the car- 
penter, where Robespierre had his lodgings. The 
premises were closed and empty, for the father, 
the mother, and the children were all under ar- 
rest. At this point " a group of women danced 
around the bier of him whose chariot wheels they 
would have dragged the day before over a thou- 
sand victims." A young man, who had procured 
a bucket of blood from a neighboring slaughter 
370 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

pen, then proceeded to besmear the front of the 
dwelHng with a broom, to the great deHght of the 
crowd. One woman jumped upon the side of 
the cart, struck Robespierre a blow in the face, 
and then invoked the vengeance of heaven upon 
the tyrant. " Down to hell," she cried, " with 
the curses of all the mothers of France." At 
this insult and terrible malediction he simply 
shrugged his shoulders. It was the only sign of 
notice of his surroundings that he made on his 
way to death. 

At a cross street the carts stopped to give the 
funeral of Madame Aigne the right of way. She 
had killed herself the day before from fear of 
Robespierre, so it was rumored. 

The guillotine was reached at last, and the 
wounded were carried from the tumbrils to the 
foot of the steps leading to the platform. One 
by one they went to execution, not one of them 
flinching. St. Just spoke but a single word and 
that was farewell to his friend and master. 

As Robespierre stood waiting to be bound to 
the plank, Samson, the executioner, rudely 
snatched the bandage from his face, the jaw fell 
and the pain was so great that he uttered a pierc- 
ing cry of anguish. It was the dying shriek of 
.the Revolution. 

^ Robespierre was but thirty-six years of age at 
the time of his death. He was buried in the 
grave that held the remains of Louis XVI. By 
the irony of fate, royalist and revolutionist at 
last mingled their ashes in the same tomb; both 
were brought to the one level by the ruthless 
371 



ROBESPIERRE 

destroyer, Death, within whose realm there are 
no distinctions. 

The execution of Robespierre may be described 
as the closing scene in the dreadful tragedy of the 
" Reign of Terror." After the guillotine ceased 
its work, the multitude dispersed, each citizen 
on the way to his home wondering the while 
what would be the next act in the drama. 

A lovely summer night came on apace, through 
the gathering shadows, and fell softly on the city. 
Paris, though not realizing it at the time, was 
passing out of her agony. 



372 



CHAPTER XXXI 

REACTION AFTER THE DEATH OF ROBESPIERRE 

COLLOT d'hERBOIS, BILLAUD-VARENNES, VA- 
DIER, AND BARERE TRIED AND CONVICTED UP- 
RISING OF THE 20TH OF MAY, 1 795 MASSA- 
CRE OF FERAUD TRIAL, CONVICTION, AND 

SUICIDE OF ROMME AND HIS COMPANIONS 

CONSTITUTION OF 1 795 ROBESPIERRE AS 

COMPARED WITH HIS CONTEMPORARIES HOW 

THE REVOLUTION AFFECTED THE MINDS OF 
MEN ITS INFLUENCE AND LESSONS. 

For several days after the death of Robespierre, 
there was no perceptible change in the policy of 
the government. The streets resounded with the 
rumbling of the death carts filled as usual with 
victims. The executions did not diminish in num- 
ber; they increased. Billaud-Varennes, Collot 
d'Herbois, and Vadier, representatives of the 
violent revolutionary spirit, were determined to 
keep the " Terror " alive, seeming to have no 
appreciation of the fact that public sentiment was 
on the turn. 

A mighty reaction, however, set in suddenly 
and the Jacobin rule soon came to an end. 
" France had awakened from the ghastly dream 
of the * Reign of Terror.' " A decree was passed 
abolishing the Revolutionary Tribunal ; the Great 

373 



ROBESPIERRE 

Committee of Public Safety was shorn of its 
power; the Law of the 22nd Prairial was re- 
pealed. The harsh and cruel features of the 
Revolution that had characterized its system of 
terror were gradually obliterated. 

Lacretelle says : " In the space of eight or ten 
days after the fall of Robespierre, out of ten 
thousand suspected persons not one remained in 
the prisons of Paris." All the parties in hiding 
came forth, the Girondins and even the royalists 
and priests returned. The churches began to 
throw open their doors and religious worship 
was resumed, although it was not until May, 
1795, that a decree was passed authorizing the 
public exercise of the Catholic religion. 

So sudden was the change in sentiment and 
conditions that the ultra-revolutionists were 
stunned. Billaud could hardly realize what had 
taken place and at a meeting of the Jacobins de- 
clared : " The lion is only slumbering, but when 
aroused his awakening will be terrible." In a 
measure he was right, for the mobs did gather 
later and threaten the public peace; but, having 
no leaders, they were soon scattered. 

Crowds of young men calling themselves the 
" Gilded Youth," belonging to the middle classes, 
paraded through the streets singing an inspiring 
song called " Reveil du Peuple." To distinguish 
themselves from the Jacobins, " they wore coats 
that were square and open-breasted, their shoes 
were very low in the instep, and their hair hang- 
ing down on each side was bound up behind in 
tresses. They were armed with short sticks, 
374 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

leaded like bludgeons." Whenever they met a 
group of Jacobins there was a hand-to-hand con- 
flict. A great crowd of these young men 
marched out of the Palais Royal on the 19th of 
Brumaire (November 9th), 1794, passed along 
the rue St. Honore, and proceeded to the hall of 
the Jacobins where the society was in session. 
The crowd outside increased every minute and as- 
sailed with insult and derision the members of the 
association ; at last they resorted to more vio- 
lent measures, throwing stones and breaking the 
windows. The women from the slums, the " Fu- 
ries " of the Revolution, who had crowded the 
galleries, rushed out of the building in terror 
to avoid the shower of missiles. Upon reaching 
the street many of them were seized by the young 
men and roughly handled ; in some instances pub- 
licly and indecently whipped, " which flagella- 
tion," says Scott, " might excellently suit their 
merits but which shows that the young asso- 
ciates for maintaining order were not sufficiently 
aristocratic to be under the absolute restraints im- 
posed by the rules of chivalry." Many of the 
women returned to the hall in great fright, with 
torn clothing and disheveled hair and called upon 
the Jacobins to resent the insults they had suf- 
fered. Their appeals met with a ready response 
and the Jacobins, led by a man of courage named 
Duhem, sallied out of the hall and at once a 
hand-to-hand conflict took place. The Jacobins, 
greatly outnumbered, were driven back into the 
building; but they took with them as prisoners 
several of the Gilded Youth. It was hours be- 

375 



ROBESPIERRE 

fore peace was restored and then only after mem- 
bers of the Convention, by earnest appeals, in- 
duced the young" men to disperse upon the promise 
that their companions should be released. The 
next day the hall was closed, and the keys de- 
posited in the office of the secretary of the Com- 
mittee of Public Safety. The Club of the 
Jacobins had ended its mission. " Within its 
walls," says Allison, " all the great changes of 
the Revolution had been prepared and all its 
principal scenes rehearsed; from its energy the 
triumph of the democracy had sprung, and from 
its activity its destruction arose." 

The reaction was so strong that the busts of 
Marat and Lepelletier were thrown down and 
destroyed. The body of Marat was taken from 
the Pantheon, dragged at the end of a rope 
through the streets, and cast into a sewer. 

Collot d'Herbois, Billaud-Varennes, Vadier, 
and Barere were tried, convicted, and sentenced 
to transportation. Barere contrived to be left be- 
hind on the island of Oleron when his colleagues 
sailed for Cayenne, " which was the first time," 
Boursault wittily remarks, " that he ever failed 
to sail with the wind." 

During the trial of these men an insurrection 
was attempted, but the substantial citizens ral- 
lied to the aid of the Convention and the mob 
was dispersed. 

" All Paris," exclaimed Legendre, addressing 

the Convention, " demands of you the justly 

merited punishment of Fouquier Tinville." So 

in response to public demand this wanton prose- 

376 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

cutor of the pleas, who had made justice a trav- 
esty in what should have been her own sanctuary, 
was convicted and guillotined. 

Carrier, the butcher of Nantes, one of the crud- 
est men of that period, was tried and sentenced to 
death. One after another the fiends of the Revo- 
lution paid the penalty for their crimes. 

Robespierre was right when he said he be- 
lieved the time had come to put an end to the 
" Reign of Terror," that its further continuance 
meant a war of extermination. His death pro- 
duced the reaction necessary to stop the " Ter- 
ror," but it took a different direction from that 
it would have taken had he still lived. 

A great revulsion of feeling followed his ex- 
ecution. France, escapinig' from the influence of 
his Puritanism, weary of the gloom that prevailed 
during the regime of this virtuous dictator, 
plunged into gayety and dissipation. A change 
in the dress of both men and women took place. 
The fashionable salons began to hold receptions. 
The " Ball of the Victims " was one of the most 
brilliant and exclusive assemblies and was charac- 
teristic of. the times. The qualification for at- 
tendance upon the ball was the loss of a near 
relative by the guillotine. Nothing so testifies 
to the great change in public sentiment as the 
holding of these assemblies. In the " Reign of 
Terror " they would not have been tolerated for 
a moment. 

Badges of mourning were worn openly by the 
royalists for relatives who had been guillotined. 

In the army a temporary despondency was 
377 



ROBESPIERRE 

created by the fall of Robespierre. The soldiers 
were republicans and they feared the reaction 
meant a return to the monarchy. Robespierre 
had been to them the exponent and representative 
of the democratic principles for which they had 
fought. His death, however, did not stop the 
victories. The campaigns of 1794 and 1795 were 
most glorious for the French arms. Young 
Bonaparte in Italy was beginning that phenom- 
enal career that was to dazzle all Europe. 

The democratic Constitution of 1793, which 
had been adopted, was now ignored and the Con- 
vention was at work framing a new instrument. 

The faubourgs of Saint Antoine and Saint 
Marceau were still restless and on the 20th of 
May, 1795, the democrats organized another up- 
rising. Mobs poured out of the sections bear- 
ing banners upon which were inscribed the words, 
" Bread ! " and *' The Constitution of 1793." The 
hall of the Convention was invaded. A swarm 
of women crowded into the galleries shouting: 
" Bread ! bread ! " The deputies, forced out of 
their seats, retired to the upper benches while the 
gendarmes formed a line around them for pro- 
tection. The crowd outside increased every mo- 
ment and drunkenness added to their frenzy ; wild 
bowlings and imprecations filled the air. Paris 
was once more in the possession of the mob. 
The hall of the Convention was crowded almost 
to suffocation and the business of the session sus- 
pended. 

Andre Dumont, the presiding officer, enjoined 
all good citizens to withdraw, but he was reviled 
378 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

and threatened with death. Presently a troop of 
soldiers and a great body of young men, armed 
with postboys' whips, forced their way into the 
galleries and drove the disorderly women out 
into the streets amidst the shouts of the specta- 
tors; but, instead of restoring order, this only 
increased the tumult and the crowd outside, an- 
gered at the scourging and expulsion of the 
women, pressed into the hall, breaking down all 
resistance. 

Feraud, a young and an intrepid deputy, ap- 
pealed to the mob to restrain their violence; but 
he was thrown to the ground, trampled under 
foot, and his body kicked out into the street. 
Shortly afterwards a rioter carried into the hall 
the head of Feraud on a pike. Boissy d'Anglas, 
who had succeeded Dumont as presiding officer, 
remained calm and immovable during all the ex- 
citement, and when the wretch who carried the 
head of the dead deputy on a pike pushed it into 
the face of Boissy d'Anglas, the latter coolly took 
off his hat and bowed gravely as if paying respect 
to the dead. For six hours continuously the 
president occupied the chair, subjected almost 
every minute to insult and derision. 

It was nine o'clock at night when the mob, 
still retaining possession of the hall, compelled 
a number of the deputies to hold a session. Mo- 
tions were made at the suggestion of the mob 
and several decrees were passed, among them 
one abolishing the existing government and an- 
other providing for the election of a new legisla- 
ture. Romme was the deputy who became the 

379 



ROBESPIERRE 

spokesman for the mob and directed the pro- 
ceedings of this Rump Convention. 

According to Mignet, this was one of the most 
terrible days of the Revolution, Never before 
had the mob so completely taken possession of 
the Convention and dictated legislation. But 
such disorders were no longer so formidable as 
they had once been, because not so lasting. The 
supremacy of the law asserted itself at once. 

The murderer of Feraud was identified and 
arrested, but was subsequently rescued by the 
mob. A number of the members of the Conven- 
tion who had acted with the mob in passing the 
decrees were arrested and six were convicted. 
These were Romme, Soubrany, Doroi, Du- 
quesnoi, Goryon, and Bourbotte. 

It was charged that these men had instigated 
the insurrection and that the part they took in 
the proceedings in the hall of the Convention had 
been previously arranged, but there was no sub- 
stantial proof of such a plot and they positively 
denied any knowledge of such a plan. 

The Duchess d'Abrantes, in her Memoirs, says 
of these men : " They exhibited the most ad- 
mirable fortitude, feeling, and patriotism. The 
conduct of Romme in particular is said to have 
been sublime. After sentence was imposed upon 
them they accepted their fate without a murmur. 
They handed to their friends standing near by 
souvenirs and letters to be delivered to their fam- 
ilies. On descending the staircase Romme sud- 
denly drew from his pocket a penknife or a small 
380 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

poniard and without a moment's hesitation 
plunged it into his heart; he then handed it to 
Goryon who, after using it in hke manner, passed 
it on to Duquesnoi. All three of these men died 
almost immediately. The others who also used 
the poniard, succeeded only in wounding them- 
selves and, while in their death throes, were car- 
ried to the scaffold and beheaded. With them 
died the party of the Mountaineers. There were 
few spectators at the execution; the people were 
recovering their sensibility and no longer looked 
with calmness upon scenes so revolting. The 
fury of the Revolution had subsided. Shortly 
after this the sections were disarmed. 

A new class of men had now come to the front, 
many of them bankers and stock brokers. Spec- 
ulation ran rife; the Bourse and the Stock Ex- 
change opened their doors; the law of the Max- 
imum was repealed; bread stuffs were cornered 
and immense fortunes were thus made. Paris be- 
gan to assume the appearance that distinguished 
her in the days of the old regime. On every side 
there was seen an ostentatious display of wealth. 
Z' " In the midst of the wreck of ancient opulence, 
modern wealth began to display its luxury," 
writes Lacretelle, " and the riches of the bankers 
and those who had made fortunes in the Revo- 
lution began to shine with unprecedented lustre. 
Splendid hotels, sumptuously furnished in the 
Grecian taste, were embellished by magnificent 
fetes" 

Of course, during this period many conspira- 
381 



ROBESPIERRE 

cies were hatched to restore the Bourbon regime, 
but the people were not yet willing to return to a 
monarchy. 

On the 22nd of August, 1795, the Convention 
decreed the new Constitution. It was the work 
of the moderate republicans. Having witnessed 
the inefficiency and danger of a single legislative 
body, which acted without any restraining influ- 
ence and which was often swayed by popular 
opinion and passion, the Convention divided the 
legislative power under the new Constitution into 
two bodies : a Council of Ancients and a Council 
of Five Hundred. The executive power was 
vested in a Directory, consisting of five members 
chosen by the two chambers. This number was 
subsequently reduced to three. 

The Constitution was too aristocratic in some 
of its features to meet the approval of the radicals 
and on the 5th of October, 1795, a mob of 40,000 
men marched out of the seditious- faubourgs 
against the Convention, which was holding its 
sessions in the Tuileries. It was planned to be a 
repetition of the memorable loth of August, 
1792,^ when the monarchy was overthrown; but 
the conditions were not at this time as they had 
been then. Napoleon Bonaparte had posted the 
artillery, and when he opened fire he scattered 
the rabble to the four winds. 

After much contention the Convention ad- 
journed October 26, 1795, amidst cries of " Long 
live the Republic." The newly organized gov- 
ernment under the new Constitution assumed 

1 See " Danton and the French Revolution," p. 238. 
382 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

control October 2^, 1795. It lasted until No- 
vember 9, 1799, when Napoleon overthrew the 
Directory, which event marks the end of what is 
distinctively called the French Revolution. 

In so far as the results it originally desired to 
attain were concerned, the Revolution was a fail- 
ure. It at last wore itself out and fell exhausted 
from its excess of energy. The men who had 
struggled so hard to reach their ideals had failed 
in their purpose, but they had, nevertheless, im- 
proved the social and political conditions. They 
had destroyed abuses, abolished privileges, and 
restricted the absolutism of the king. They had 
not regenerated the world as they had hoped to 
do, but they had broken down systems of tyranny 
and had emancipated France from thraldom and 
feudalism. To effect these results they had been 
obliged to combat the despotism of ages, a despot- 
ism firmly seated and deeply rooted ; the struggle 
had been impassioned and intense. From a sim- 
ple effort to effect reform the Revolution became 
a raging torrent and the men who thought they 
directed its course were carried along helplessly 
on its surface or drowned in its depths. It was 
a power, a force, separate and distinct in itself, 
and men were but its instruments. The Revolu- 
tion was war in its worst phase. 

In judging the men of those times, if we desire 
to be fair, we must consider the extraordinary 
conditions that surrounded them ; it would not be 
just to estimate their characters as we would those 
of men in a quiet and an orderly period. 
Through the dark and murky atmosphere of 
383 



ROBESPIERRE 

those days, especially during the " Reign of Ter- 
ror," all the actors and scenes seem out of propor- 
tion when compared with the men and events of 
other times. " The actors in this fearful drama," 
says Sardou, " move like beings of some other 
sphere," and to judge them accurately we cannot 
separate them from their circumstances nor from 
the spirit, the motives, and the purposes, of their 
age. 

Robespierre, to be sure, in many respects was 
an enigma, but perhaps not more incomprehensi- 
ble than were other men of that epoch. Stripped 
of the innumerable legends that attach to his 
career, he appears no worse than any of his col- 
leagues and really better than most of them. 

Maillard had been a respectable usher at a 
court before the Revolution and gave no sign 
of possessing the brutal character he afterwards 
developed. Billaud-Varennes, one of the most 
merciless men in the " Reign of Terror," had 
been a teacher at the institute of the Oratorians, 
where he was so beloved by the pupils that he 
was affectionately called " good father Billaud." 
Collot d'Herbois had been an actor and would 
have continued, no doubt, to tear many a passion 
to tatters, without resorting to anything more 
violent, had he not been cast to play a leading 
part in the drama of the Revolution. The bois- 
terous Santerre, leader of the rabble in the fau- 
bourg Saint Antoine, had been a benevolent well- 
to-do brewer. The Marquis St. Huruge was 
naturally kindly in disposition; "his heart was 
not cruel, but his brain was disturbed." Even 
384 




COLLOT U HERBOIS 

From an engraving in the collection of William T. I-atta, Esq. 
After a painting by Raffet 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

Legendre, the butcher, is said to have been good 
in his lucid intervals. Marat, a retired physician, 
had been devoted to scientific study and research. 
Fouquier Tinville, the ruthless public prosecutor, 
had been a reputable lawyer. Even Carrier, 
" who might have summoned hell to match his 
cruelty without a demon venturing to answer his 
challenge," had been a respectable though an ob- 
scure attorney; and so we might extend the list 
indefinitely. 

The strong wine of the Revolution intoxicated 
them; it inflamed their minds; it poisoned their 
blood. Their natures seemed to undergo a com- 
plete transformation. 

The duration of the Revolution, from the meet- 
ing of the States-General to the death of Robes- 
pierre, covered a period of only five years; but 
in that short space of time changes were wrought 
that centuries could not have effected under ordi- 
nary conditions. Never in the history of the 
world had there been a period so exceptional. 
Such an eruption of ideas, theories, policies, pur- 
poses, catastrophies, crimes, and virtues man- 
kind had never witnessed. The Revolution was 
a theatre for the display of genius, talents, power, 
hatred, cruelty, generosity, ambition, and every 
phase of human passion. Doctrines, dogmas, 
creeds, codes, vows, obligations, were cast aside; 
even Christianity no longer directed and influ- 
enced human conduct. The Revolution itself be- 
came a dogma ; a faith to which all things had to 
yield. No wonder that the minds of men were 
unbalanced, that society was thrown topsy-turvy, 
25 385 



ROBESPIERRE 

and that human nature underwent a change. 

The people became not only intolerant and 
fanatical, but cruel in venting their hatred. For 
centuries, and especially during the Bourbon 
regime, under a system of oppression and tyranny 
they had been nursing their wrath and at last 
the day arrived to avenge the continued and 
heartless wrongs they had suffered. Heretofore 
their hatred had been expressed only in looks 
and whispers, and their complaints, if they dared 
to utter them aloud, were couched in humble and 
supplicatory terms; but the Revolution spoke the 
people's wrath in trumpet tones; it was in itself 
the expression of their anger. Men and events 
were reflected in each other; how could it have 
been otherwise? The worst passions of the hu- 
man heart were aroused by the remembrance of 
past wrongs. 

The French Revolution was the remonstrance 
of the oppressed against the tyranny of ages. 
Although its violence and cruelty prevented the 
immediate securing of the benefits it desired to 
obtain, its influence will last for all time, and 
unto the latest generations mankind will be the 
recipient of its blessings and will be warned and 
instructed by its many lessons. 



386 



INDEX 



387 



INDEX 



Abbaye, prison for soldiers, 96 

Absolutists, characteristics of, 47 

Academic Frangais, prize of, 138 

Accounts Rendered, celebrated, 142 

Adelaide, daughter of Louis XV, 145 

Alenqon, 192 

Allison, 321 

America, colonies in, 67; Rochambeau in, 186; United 
States of, 237 

American, Congress, 221, 259; Revolution, 171 

Americans, 205, 215 

Amiens, Academy of, 50 

Angely, d', R. de Saint Jean, 175 

Anglas, d', Boissy, 379 

Arcis-sur-Aube, home of Danton, 289, 290, 348 

Argot, 36 

Arny-le-duc, aunts of king stopped at, 147 

Arras, R's. farms near, 19; R's. birthplace, 49; Bishop of, 
50; a maiden of, 54; 157, 239, 308 

Artois, 49, 55, 56, 162, 205 

Athens, Athenians, 36 

Augustin, R's. brother, went to scaffold with him, 49 

Austria, 223 

Austrians, 151, 253 

Assembly, R. distinguished member, 16; sessions, 19; in 
mourning for Franklin, 20; dissolution of, 25; R, an 
instrument for much good and much evil, 31 ; not no- 
ticed at first, 32; a thorough worker in, 47; nobles and 
clericals invited, 91 ; ordered to disperse, 91 ; declares 
members inviolable, 93; 109, no, 113; decree of, 114; 
Jacobins influential, 115, 116; creates departments, 118; 
martial law, 123; proclaims toleration, 126; king visits, 
389 



INDEX 

127; new order, 130; in confusion, 131; attitude toward 
church, 131; 132, 134, 136, 143, 144; in conclave, 146; 
Menou's speech, 147; interruptions, 154; 161; lost credit, 
162; appeals for republic, 166; sweeping reforms, 168; 
in consternation, 169; 176, 179; honors La Fayette, 183; 
184, 185, 196; revision, 208; drawing to close, 208; king 
accepts constitution, 210; deputies and king, 211; 212, 
213, 218, 220, 221; Girondins in, 22i,; adjournment, 233; 
National-Constituent, 234; October 1791, 234; 237; mem- 
ber of National, 236; commissioners, 251; moved to 
Paris, 257; halls occupied by, 258; tribune of, 259; 312, 
322 

B 

Bailly, president, 95 ; conspiracy to kill, 27 ; 181 

Barbaroux, leading Girondin, 239; supports Louvet, 244; 
281 

Barere, R. at dinner with, 23; mouthpiece of, 190; 207, 244; 
Stephens on, 245 ; epigram, 246 ; report by, 275 ; memoirs, 
278; 349, 376 

Barnave, disciple of Mounier, 92; 156; full name, 184; 185, 
209, 210, 216 

Barras, memoirs, 27; 295; enemy of R., 307; 351, 352 

Bastile, fall of, 79; symbol of arbitrary power, 100; com- 
mandant of, 103; mob, 112; celebration of fall, 131; 133, 
143; Voltaire in, 74; Voltaire's coffin at, 175; 214 

Batz, Baron de, 340 

Baudin, 156, 157 

Beauharnais, memoirs, 41, 42 

Beaumarchais, comedies of, 68 

Beauregard, 298 

Belgium, 149 ; campaign in, 253 ; 357 

Bellevue, 145, 146 

Bicetre, 96 

Billaud-Varennes, 38, 304, 30S, 349. 3SI. 353. 361, 373. 374. 
376, 384 

Blanc, Louis, " Royalty no longer," 90 ; on Louis XVI, 
102, 121 

Body Guard, 11 1 

390 



INDEX 

Bordeaux, 213, 215, 282, 284, 342, 352 

Bossuet, 220, 318 

Bouille, suppressed mutiny, 136; honored, 136 

Bourbon, princes, 72; intolerant, 82; iii, 235, 385 

Bourdalone, 220, 320 

Boze, 249 

Brissot, "no more king," 166; editor, 198; Brissotins, 214; 

215, 216, 219, 223; dictatorship, 240; 281 
Brittany, massacre in, 131 ; sword of, 132 
Broglie, Marshal, 186 

Brunswick, Duke of, issues proclamation, 229 
Brussels, emperor and king at, 162; 253 
Buckle, H. T., 72 
Burke, 221 
Buzot, 165, 183 



Caen, 284 

^a ira, 124, 205, 206 

Cambon, 355, 357 

Campan, Madame, plot for king's escape, 129; memoirs, 

150; destroyed documents, 250 
Capet, 133 
Capital, 214, 237 
Carmagnole, 205, 206, 207, 298 
Carnot, 38, 296, 349, 357 
Carra, 197 

Carrault, Jacqueline, mother of R., 50 
Carrier, 259 ; butcher of Nantes, 377 
Carrousel, 347 

Castries, Duke de, duel, 187; Mademoiselle de, 188 
Catharine Theot, 336, 338 
Champ de Mars, meeting at, 180; fusillade of, 181; 182, 

183, 326, 327 
Champfort, loi 
Charles I, 248 

Charles X, Count d' Artois, 226 
Charlotte, R's sister, 19, 40 
Chateaubriand, 116 

391 



INDEX 

Chaumette, editor, 192; full name, 193 

Chenier, Joseph, 151 ; hymn, 177 

Christendom, 192 

Christian, faith, 193, 321 ; religion, 73 

Christianity, ministers of, 317, 385 

Christmas, 249 

Church, the, princes of, 61 ; no moral influence, 66 ; the 
primitive, 89; lands confiscated, 114; rapacity of, 125; 
R. on confiscation, 126; made subservient, 130; reforms 
in, 168; abuses in, 174; 177, 183; crown and the, 271; 
319. 320, 321, 322, 329 

Clamart, quarries of, 196 

Coblentz, emigres at, 162, 222, 230 

Colbert, eulogy on, 138 

College, of Louis le Grand, 50, 55; of Jesuits, 195; of 
Oratorians, 294 

Colonies, American, 142 

Committee of General Safety, 203, 245 

Commune, 308 

Conde, fugitive, 162; prince of, 226, 227 

Condorcet, journalist, 195; searched, 197; on R., 228 

Constantinople, capture of, 7^ 

Constitution, basis of a, 109; "Friends of the," 114; labors 
on, 123; construction, 127; king loyal to, 127; oath of 
allegiance, 130, 168; revision, 208; 209, 210, 211, 223, 
224, 226, 227; of 1791, 234; of the year II, 260, 261; ac- 
ceptance of, 267; American, 283; of 1793, 378, 382 

Convention, declaration of, 75; accepts constitution, 104; 
116, 135, 169; deputies to, 170; 196; new, 213, 220; last 
Congress, 233 ; strife in, 234 ; important move in, 235 ; 
old leaders, 236; assembling of, 237 ; charges against 
R., 240; in uproar, 241; Louvet's speech, 242; contempt 
of, 244 ; R. addressing, 248 ; decree of, 254, 255 ; expul- 
sion of Girondins, 256 ; changed quarters, 257 ; 258, 259 ; 
Jacobins in, 262 ; 263, 264 ; honors Marat, 267 ; 268, 270, 
271 ; orders levy, 273 ; 274, 275, 276, 282, 283, 284, 295, 
296, 298, 312, 313; on Christian religion, 318; 324, 326, 
327, 328, 329, 331, 338, 341, 346, 349; R.'s oration in, 355; 
357. 358, 360, 376; invaded by women, 378; Rump ses- 
392 



INDEX 

sion, 380, 381; decreed new constitution, 382; adjourned, 
382 



D'AIembert, 195 

Danton, epigrammatic, 30; after death of, 42; Cordeliers, 
114; 141; at Jacobins', 161; charges against La Fayette, 
161; "peace of slavery," 167; successor of Louis, 167; 
generosity of, 184; speeches, 199, 221 ; 230; an inspiration, 
231; connection with Dumouriez, 251; La Source, 252; 
admiration for Girondins, 255; humiliated, 284; 288, 290; 
declares for clemency, 290; addresses Convention, 291; 
given fraternal embrace, 292 ; 301 ; outspoken, 302 ; col- 
lision with R., 303 ; " found guilty without hearing," 304 ; 
on the scaffold, sacrificed, 305; 308; loth of August, 311 ; 
314. 332, 3351 supreme, 348; date of death, 349; Danton- 
ists, 300 ; 305, 351, 354 

D'Aumont, 128 

David, artist of Revolution, 257, 323, 361 

Day of Black Breeches, 151, 229 

Day of the Daggers, 149 

De Flesseles, 103 

De Launy, commandant of Bastile, 103 

Descartes, 177 

Desmoulins, Camille, R.'s schoolmate, 16; precipitates cap- 
ture of Bastile, 96; calls to arms, 99; 133; on The- 
roigne's eloquence, 150; victims of, 154; journalist, 190; 
able articles by, 289 ; 296, 300 

Diamond necklace, affair of, 68 

Directory, 38 

Dom Gerl, 336, 337, 338 

Draper, 321 

Drouet, recognizes king, 159 

Du Barry, Madame, 287 

Dubois, prelate, 320 

Du Chatelet, colonel, 96, 169 

Duchesse d'Abrantes, 22; memoirs, 380 

Dumas, judge, 345, 346 

Dumouriez, wears red cap, 22; victory at Jemappes, 251; 
393 



INDEX 

designs of, 252; plans discovered, 253; 255; -warning to 

Girondins, 256 ; 290 
Duplay, R.'s landlord, 18, 19; a Jacobin, 20; Madame and 

daughter, 22 ; dwelling of, 182, 183 
Duport, leader of Feuillants, 34; 156, 184, 209 

E 

Echerolles, M'lle des, 317 

Eleonore, daughter of Duplay, 20; R. said to have affec- 
tion for, 54 

Encyclopedia, articles in, 195 

England, government, 71, loi ; Magna Charta, no; war 
with, 142; refuge in, 150; Franklin in, 170; Paine, 172; 
coalition, 254 ; furnished subsidies, 254 ; 280, 284 

English constitution, 92; reference to French troops, 206; 
nation, 294; 312; government, 71, loi, 314 

Europe, conspiracy, 222 ; crowned heads, 222 ; every throne 
in, 247; armies in motion, 257 



Fargeau, deputy, assassinated, 261 

Father Duchesne, 194 

Fauchet, publisher, 198 

Favras, Marquis de, hanged, 127, 128 

Fenelon, 62, 318 

Ferrand, 379, 380 

Festival, 131, 132, 133, 323, 327, 329, 330, 331 

Feuillants, 154; organizers, 183; minority elected, 189 

Flanders, 150 

Flechier, 220, 320 

Flemish capital, 253 

Fleury, 345 

Forum, 214 

Fouche, 351, 352, 359 

Foulon, hated and detested, 103, 104; seized by mob, 105; 

hanged, 106 
Fouquier Tinville, 280, 338, 346, 376 
Fox, C. J. Id 

394 



INDEX . 

France, constitution of, 37 ; 47 ; monarchy in, 59 ; a great 
hospital, 62; court of, 65; rejoiced in America's success, 
68; Freemasonry in, 68; oppressed for centuries, 70; 
prior to Revolution, 71 ; influence of Revolution, 75 ; 
cold winter, 88, 89; monarch in, 102; 109, no; Jacobins 
in, 114; provinces of, 118; conditions in, 121; threats 
from Rome, 126; hanging in, 128; financier in, 140; 
needed a statesman, 141; treasury of, 142, 143; 152; 
under arms, 162; 166; families in, 187; 195, 204, 205; 
history of, 208; invasion of, 218, 220, 222; law of nations, 
222, 223; glory of, 24; on fire, 230, 231; Marat and dic- 
tatorship, 239 ; 242 ; R.'s advice, 254 ; formidable enemy 
of, 254 ; 265, 267 ; coalition against, 272 ; 275, 276, 279, 
281, 285, 298; saved from Brunswick, 307; 308, 312, 313, 
321, 334, 335, 342, 369, Zn, 383 

Frangois, 123 

Franklin, Benjamin, on Paine, 170, 171; ambassador, 205; 
bust of, 273 

Franks, 59, 211, 213, 214 

Frederick the Great, 174 

French, people, 37; attached to king, 62, 68; Philip le Bel 
convened congress, 79; 205, 206, 207; language, 220; laws, 
223; victories, 224; princes, 230; historians, 242; 273, 
275, 276, 325; emperor of, 335; 378 

G 

Gallia, 59 

Garat, minister of Interior, 281, 351 

Gaudet, 218, 219, 249 

Gauls, overthrow of, 59 

Geneva, birthplace of Necker, 138 

Gensonne, 218, 249, 259 

Germany, at the gates, 124; petty states, 222; emperor, 
229 

Gibbon, 334 

Gilded Youth, 374, 375 

Girondins, execution of, z^ ; downfall of, 152 ; condemna- 
tion of, 190; leader of, 198; 203, 213, 214, 218, 219; 
favor war, 222 ; R. on, 224, 225, 226 ; ministers dismissed, 
395 



INDEX 

229; faction of, 232; policies of, 237; in the Convention, 
237; not a political party, 237; councils of 238; public 
suspicious, 239 ; deputies from Marseilles, 240 ; cowardice 
of, 250, 252 ; Dumouriez favorite with, 253 ; orators, 254 ; 
proceedings against Marat, 256, 257 ; protest, 263 ; un- 
doing of, 264; accusations, 266; after expulsion, 270, 271 ; 
no defense, 280; fortitude of, 281; 282, 283, 284, 288, 
351 ; return of, 374 

Gobel, archbishop, 317, 318 

Goddess of Reason, 312 

Grasse, 218 

Great Britain, 312 

Great Committee, 235, 273, 275, 293, 306, 340, 342, 348, 349, 
35 1 > 357, 358, 376 

Guillotine, 128, 246, 247, 340, 345, 346, 347, 372 

H 

Helvetius, Madame, saloti of, 139 

Hebert, editor, 192 ; influence of, 193 ; imitation, 195 ; the 

infamous, 236; 299, 300; Hebertists, 203 
Herbois, d', Collot, 253; waylaid, 314; 346, 349; Nero of 

Lyons, 351 ; 373, 376, 384 
Henry IV, coffin of, 299 
Holy of Holies, 298 
Home Guard, 144 
Hotel de Ville, 102 
Hugo, Victor, 272, 313 



Indulgents, the, 248 

Inisdale, d', arranged for escape of king, 128; failure, 129 

Ireland, R.'s family originated in, 49 

Isnard, 216, 218 



Jacobins, R. at meeting of, 16 ; resolutions by, 38 ; leading 
organization, 113; nobles and men of distinction attended 
meetings, 113, 114; 1,200 societies, 114; " Societe Des," 
396 



INDEX 

IIS, ii6; Theroigne invited by, 151; 154; La Fayette at, 
161; 167; Paine offended the, 172; committee of the, 180; 
187; leaders, 190; 203, 206, 213, 218; organ of, 225; ex- 
tremes, 225 ; R.'s speeches in, 237 ; real democracy, 238 ; 
counter charges, 280; R. defends the, 243; 244; charge 
against Roland, 249; at trial, 260: impending danger, 
262 ; 263, 264 ; memorial services, 266 ; honors to Marat, 
267; 268, 269, 293, 300; R. leader of, 308; 312, 314, 317, 
341 ; rule at an end, 373, 374 ; mission closed, 376 

Jacquerie, at work, 135 

Jefferson, Thomas, 171 

Jeffreys, George, Lord Chancellor, 280 

Jones, John Paul, 33 

Justin McCarthy, on Robespierre, 55 



Laclos, 166, 198 

L' Admiral, marked R. for assassmation, 313; 314, 339, 340 

La Fayette, sends key of Bastile to Washington, 102 ; con- 
spiracy to kill, 127; 132, 140; commander of Guard, 144; 
146; mob overtaken by, 148; quieted clamor, 149; en- 
vious of Mirabeau, 155; surprised by flight of king, 160; 
deceived, 161 ; allayed suspicions, 164 ; innocence proved, 
165; skill of, 180; exiled, 181; withdrew, 183; 187; 
" loved glory," 199 ; fresh laurels, 225 

Lafiteau, prelate, 320 

Lamartine, 151, 264 

Lameths, Feuillants, 114; 156; three brothers, 186; Count 
Charles de, 187; 188, 209, 210 

Lasource, speech against Danton, 251 

La Vendee, insurrection in, 36; massacres in, 131; 284 

Lebas, 326, 364, 365 

Lecointre, 359 

Legendre, 305, 376 

Le Marie, journalist, 194 

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, 74, 326 

Liege, 151 

Life Guards, courage of, 113 
397 



INDEX 

Lindet, Robert, 349 

Loire, 342 

Loiserolles, General, 344; "I am Loiserolles," 345 

Lomenie, nephew of cardinal, 23 

Louis XIII, power centred in monarch, 59; convention in 
reign of, 79 

Louis XIV, remarkable character, 59; at Versailles, 120; 
zenith of power, 173; 220, 320 

Louis XV, a voluptuary, 62 ; de Pompadour, 63 ; Du Barry, 
63 ; " Well Beloved," 64 ; government under, 76 ; warlike 
measures, 98 ; coronation, 100 ; health of, loi ; daughters 
of, 145; 320 

Louis XVI, wore red cap, 22; entered Paris, 50; fetes of, 
60 ; named " Le Desire," 64 ; 65 ; policy of, 67 ; might 
have avoided " Reign of Terror," 72 ; from bad to worse, 
76; before States-General 86; fast and loose, 94; sur- 
render to the people, 102; "Joyous Entry," 112; not in 
peril, 113; plots to abduct, 127; 128; at fete, 132; two 
aunts of, 145 ; refused to take advice, 146 ; safety, 148 ; 
flight, 159; recognized and detained, 159, 160; deceptive 
declarations, 161 ; 165, 166 ; successor of, 167 ; flight fatal 
to monarchy, 168; defense of, 172; return of, 179; 216, 
223; sceptre in hand of, 224; unpopularity of, 226; funds 
of, 230 ; 235, 236 ; " Louis the Last," 247 ; " Let Louis 
live," 248 ; condemned, 248 ; method of conviction, 250 ; at 
trial, 259; abandoned palace, 274; 278, 288; Danton to 
be regent, 292; 336, 340; grave of, 371 

Louis XVIII, 226 

Lou vet, 241, 242, 244, 281 

Lubin, 23s, 236 

Lyons, 282, 284, 293 

M 



Macaulay 280 
Madonna, 318 
Maillard, 384 
Malesherbes, 344 
Malseigne, at Nancy, 136 
Marais, the, lodgings in, 183 

398 



INDEX 

Marat, idol of the mob, 25 ; made a Freemason, 69 ; fumes 
at icte, 104 ; appeals to mob, 136 ; poisoning of Mirabeau, 
158; 165; disappeared, 183; journalist, 190, 191; opposed 
war, 225 ; 239 ; attacks on Girondins, 256 ; proceedings 
against, 256, 257; stricken down, 265; death of, 266, 267; 
bust of, 273; 281, 284; day of triumph, 312; 323; body 
cast in sewer, 376. 

Marie Antoinette, 128, 129, 130; at fete, 132; 186, 204, 223; 
at guillotine, 278; 340 

Marseillais, 229 

Marseillaise, the, 205, 218, 272, 283 

Marseilles, Girondin deputies from, 240, 282, 284, 342 

Marsh, the, 221, 269 

Mascarron, 220, 320 

McCarthy, Justin, on Robespierre, 55 

Menage, 257, 258 

Menon, 147 

Mercier, 206, 254 

Metz, Academy of, 52; king goes to, 145 

Michelet, 19, 53 

Mignet, 333, 380 

Minister of Finance, 142 

Mirabeau, R. obsequious to, 21; writes to Tallyrand, 79; 
States-General, 81 ; deputy from Aix, 84 ; appeals to 
clergy, 88; necessary to king, 93; on the Assembly, no; 
140, 144 ; president of Jacobins, 145 ; advises Louis, 146, 
147; full name, 152; 153; a tremendous worker, 154; 
"master hand," 156; death of, 156; brief illness, 157; 
alleged poisoning, 158; 177, 179; redoubtable, 185; 
speech, 190; 216, 314 

Mirabeau the younger, full name, 220; accused, 226; slain, 
227 

N 

Nancy, meeting at, 136 
Nantes, 342 

Napoleon, on R., 26 ; " Drouet changed the face of the 
world," 159; 333, 335, 351; in Italy, 378 
399 



INDEX 

National Guard, 144, 146, 176, 187; hats of, 202; 211; 
Henriot, commander of, 304 

Necker, calling States-General, 78; dismissed, leaves 
France, 98; recalled, 103; purchased grain, 123; the 
queen, 127; resignation, 138; wife of, 139; reputation of, 
140; on R., 141; dismissed, 143; mistrusts Mirabeau, 155 

Nicolle, 340 

Nivernais, province, 295 

Nobility, the, obstinate and selfish, yj; electioneering for 
States-General, 80; 86; refuse to meet with Third Es- 
tate, 86; demand one vote for each Estate, 87; cling to 
old idols, 93; join commons, 94; in Paris, 148 

Normandie, 214 

Notables, meeting of, 79 

O 

Old Bailey, 280 
Orient, 71 

Orleans, Duke of, 112; letter by, 113; 148, 167; sceptre 
in hands of, 224 

P 

Paine, Thomas, deputy from Calais, 170; birth, 170; edited 
Pennsylvania Magazine, 170; surpassing use of English, 

171 

Palais Royal, ringing with rumors, 93; meeting of citi- 
zens, 96; 97, 261, 268; hot bed, 103; caje in, 107; iii; 
gardens of, 117, 146 

Panckoucke, 198 

Panis, 240, 359 

Pantheon, 177 

Paris, R.'s return to, 16; 19, 20; mob grows ugly, 78; 
wild with excitement, 93; new cabinet, 99; tocsin, 99; 
fall of Bastile, 99; king comes to, 102; Foulon's entry, 
104; commune, 106; passports, 11 1; march to Versailles, 
112; population of, 119, 120; various comments, 122-124; 
celebration in, 131 ; Necker, 138; salons in, 139; R. comes 
to, 140; in a tumult, 145; king's aunts, 146; king to 
leave, 148; Theroigne returns to, 151 ; Mirabeau, as 
400 



INDEX 

host in, 153; startled by flight of king, 160; traitors, 
162 ; king brought to, 168 ; walls of, 169 ; Paine in, 172 ; 
suburb of, 173; Voltaire's body returned to, 175; 190; 
Hebert comes to, 192; Chaumette in, 193; churches in, 
194; colleges in, 195 ; 204; classes in, 205 ; college du Pies- 
sis in, 215; 219; camp near, 226; 229; threatened, 230; 237, 
240; Dumouriez in, 253; Girondins threaten, 254; 255; 
purlieus of, 256; 257, 262, 267, 268, 269, 270, 272, 282, 
284, 295, 297, 298, 314, 372 

Parisians, 219, 272 

Parliament, the Long, 53; of France, 60; English in reign 
of Charles I, 90 ; British, 221 ; 259, 330 

Pennsylvania, letter from R. to Franklin, 56; legislature 
of, 170; University of, 171 

Petion, 165 

Phillips, Wendell, 117 

Piedmontese, 207 

Pilnitz, 229 

Pitt, 254; denounced, 294; traitor paid by, 300 

Place de Greve, 105 

Place Louis XV, 347 

Polignac, Duchess de, 102 

Prairial, law of 22nd, 36; 24th, 331; 374 

Press, the license of, 190 

Provence, 127, 218 

Priests, 312 

Prudhomme, 193 

Prussia, king of, 229 

Puritan, 47 



Quaker, 215 



Rebecqui, 240, 244 
Reformation, the, in religion, 73 
Reformers, 47 
Regnault, 339, 340 

401 



INDEX 

Reign of Terror, "a means to secure reign of virtue," 
38; reports threw blame on R., 43; the days of, 54; pre- 
ludes to, 103; excesses in, 108; Theroigne in, 152; 153, 
168, 233; period known as, 264; 284; Barras in, 307; 330, 
334; victims, 342; 343, 351, 352, 353; closing scene, 372; 

372, Z77, 384 

Renaissance, in art, 73 

Republic, soul of the, 44; temple to liberty, 157; 169, 217, 
219; September 21st, 235; 240, 243, 244; one honest man 
in, 245 ; a dethroned king, 247 ; opposition to, 247 ; 255, 
262, 264, 273; disloyalty to, 303; 307, 309, 312, 314, 329, 
356, 358, 382 

Reveillon, manufacturer, destruction of factory opens Rev- 
olution, 78 

Revolution, early days of, 15, 16; R. devoted to, 25; 27; 
attempts to counteract, 35 ; stormy years of, 37 ; R. a 
leader of, 54; 58, 66; given impetus by Louis XVI, 67; 
68; various comments on, 69, 70; caused by suffering, 
72, 73, 74; fierce fires of, 92; irresistible, 93; moving 
drama, 97 ; 99 ; cockade of, 102 ; 103 ; Michelet on, 108 ; 
no. III; clubs important, 113; Jacobins, 114; focus of, 
117; Paris centre of, 121; reform, 122; appropriates 
wealth of church, 125; guillotine symbol of, 128; the 
" White Terror," 131 ; a halt, 133 ; literature of, 135 ; to 
be crushed out, 136 ; leaders in, 141 ; turning point in, 
143; National Guard in, 144; 148; Theroigne in, 150; 
period of, 152; first years of, 153; 154, 156; like a tor- 
rent, 157; a different story, 160; "glorious day," 161; 
162; retrospective vein, 168; Voltaire in, 175; 177; prin- 
ciples of, 179, 182; opportunities in, 184; 185, 186, 187, 
188; journalists of, 191, 192; orators of, 199, 200; songs 
of, 205, 207; 213, 215, 216, 217, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 226; 
church enemy of, 229, 230 ; inspiration, 231 ; last con- 
gress, 233; 245, 246, 257, 258, 260; loth of August, 263; 
266; cradle of, 268; foes of, 270; 271, 273, 282, 283, 285, 
286, 287; insatiable, 288; St. Just on, 297; 300, 302; R. 
embodiment of, 308; scapegoat of, 309; 312, 313, 317, 
318, 322, 329, 351, 356, 358; dying shriek, 371; 374, 381, 
383. 385, 386 

402 



INDEX 

Revolutionary Tribunal, bar of the, 279; of Strasbourg, 
295; 310 

Richelieu, 59, 79 

Right, the, members of, 241 

Rights of Man, 185, 260, 2^^ 

Robespierre, talents, 15 ; temperament, 16 ; personal de- 
scriptions of, 17, 18; residence of, 18, 19; at Duplay's, 
20; charged with timidity, but self-reliant, 21, 22; red 
cap at Jacobins,' 22; early a leader, 24; more prominent 
than Danton, 25 ; a terror to evil-doers, 26 ; denounces 
Barras and Freron, 27 ; not a great orator but one of 
the most distinguished speakers of Revolution, 29, 30; 
opinions respecting and comments on, 30, 31, 2^2., "^^^'y 
stage fright, 34 ; Duport, the Lameths, and Vergniaud, 
34 ; speech on Barra, 35 ; on abolishing capital punish- 
ment, 36; too visionary, jiT^ not a man of action, 38; 
scorned and execrated, 39; opinions respecting, 40, 41, 
42, 43 ; member of Great Committee, 43 ; lived and died 
for lofty ideals, 48; full name, 49; schoolmates, 50; 
portrait as young man shows weak face, 52 ; favorite au- 
thors, 53 ; Franklin's lightning-rod, 55, 56 ; " ready to de- 
fend the oppressed," 57 ; 58 ; elected to States-General, 
81 ; " an ingrate," 82 ; deputy from Arras, 84 ; maiden 
speech, 89; 90, 97, 99; a new era, no; turns to the clubs, 
113; in Jacobin Club, 116; 122; opposes martial law, 123; 
favors confiscation, 126; 130; at fete, 133; 136; first 
came to Paris, 140, 141 ; stormy speech, 144 ; influence 
among Jacobins, 145; gave warning, 147; 150, 152; under 
spell, 154; when Mirabeau died, 157, 158; speech on 
flight of king, 161 j 164, 165; civic crowns, 166, "the mo- 
ment has come," 167; 179, 182, 183, 185, 188; started 
journal, 190; 196, 199; "loved glory," 200; Robespierre- 
ists, 203; forging constitution, 209, 210; at Arras, 211; 
212, 215, 217, 221 ; opposed war, 224, 225 ; supported veto, 
226; "at heart a priest," 226; no part in mob-march, 
229; 231; in the background, 232; deputy to States- 
General, member of National Assembly and National 
Convention, 233 ; notable in Assembly, 236 ; conspiring 
for dictatorship, 239; as dictator, 240; accused by Lou- 
403 



INDEX 

vet, 241 ; indictment of, 242 ; signally failed, 243 ; tri- 
umph at Jacobins', 244 ; 245 ; execution of Louis a neces- 
sity, 248; 250; against war, 254; enemy of Girondins, 
256; 263, 266, 269, 270; on government, 280, 282; as- 
sailed, 284; 285, 289; calls Desmoulins to account, 290; 
on charges against Danton, 291, 292; stalwart friends, 
293 ; incessant talker, 296 ; 298, 299, 301 ; St. Just, 301 ; 
Danton, 302, 303; on guard, 304; could have saved 
Danton, 305, 306; Danton willing to unite with, 307; 
head of the Republic, 308; last speech before conven- 
tion, 309; not responsible for massacres, 310; "all 
crimes thrown at my door," 311; 312; marked for as- 
sassination, 313; in danger, 314; 324; speech at Festival, 
325, 326 ; proclaims a Deity, 327 ; law of 22nd Prairial, 
329; threatening letters, 330; 331, 332; not of heroic 
mould, 333; 334, 335, 336, 337, 338; attack upon, 339; 
340, 341 ; July 28th, 348 ; friends in Committee, 349 ; most 
prominent man in Republic, 351; overthrow, 352; seeks 
seclusion, 353; 355; violently assailed, 359; leaves As- 
sembly, 360 ; " last will and testament," 360 ; " the blood 
of Danton," 362 ; lukewarm friends, 363 ; in custody, 
364; no organized force, 364; Augustin, brother of R., 
364; 366; last hope, 365; shot by Meda, 366; enemies 
mocked him, 367; declared an outlaw, 368; on way to 
scaffold, 369 ; R.'s lodgings, 370 ; struck in face, 371 ; a 
piercing cry, 371 ; after death of, 373 ; 374, 377 ; fall of, 
378; an enigma, 384 

Robespierre, Maximilien Barthelemy Frangois, father of 
R., 49; died in Munich, 49 

Roland, Madame, 20, 165, 183, 195, 212; on R., 225; her 
salon, 238; 264; trial of, 285, 286 

Roland, Monsieur, 165 

Rome, 58, 59, 122, 214, 238, 248 

Rosati Club, 51 

Rousseau, R. drew inspiration from, 31 ; 38, 66, 317, 355 

S 

Saint Amand, 124 

Saint Amaranthe, Madame de, 337, 338, 339, 340 
404 



INDEX 

Saint Antoine, faubourg, 347 
Saint Etienne, president of Assembly, 126, 144 
Saint Fargeau, 318 
Saint Honore, 318 
Saint Lazar, prison, 344 
Saint Veronica, 318 
Sainte-Menehould, 159, 160 
St. Denis, 296, 299 
St. Louis, order of, 294 

St. Just, man of action, 38; devoted friend of R., 40; 279, 
292; full name, 294; 295, 296, 297, 305, 306, 326, 331, 341, 

349, 352, 354, 364, 365 

Salpetriere, 152 

Sans Culottes, 150, 317 

Santerre, 148, 384 

Sauvigny, 106; slain by mob, 107 

Scheldt, 284 

Sechelles, de, 349 

Sections, the, Danton in, 230, 364 

Seine, the, 254 

Sellieres, Abby of, 175 

September Massacres, 283, 344 

Sieyes, Abbe, shrewd and crafty, 90; chosen by Third Es- 
tate, 90 ; in consulate with Napoleon, 91 ; " Third Es- 
tate is the French nation," 91 

Sombreuil, Mademoiselle, 344 

Spear, Robert, 49 

Stael, de, Madame, 139 

State, 130, 142, 156, 168, 174, 175, 274 

States-General, early sessions, 21 ; Cardinal Lomenie, 24 ; 
70, 76; Estates of, 78, 79; Third Estate, 82, 83; at Ver- 
sailles, 84, 85; taxes, 109; 143, 156, 168, 184, 215, 226; 
5th of May, 233 ; 234, 308, 312, 385 

Strasbourg, 295, 297 

Sulean, editor, 152 

Supreme Being, 300, 322, 325 

Sweden, king of, 162 

Swiss, 135, 136 

Switzerland, 29 

40s 



INDEX 

T 

TalHen, 351, 352 

Tallyrand, Bishop of Autun, at fete, 132; prelate, 320 

Tengin, prelate, 320 

Tennis Court, oath of, 91, 185, 208 

Theatre des Varietes, lodging for prisoners, 97, 143 

Thellusons, bankers, 138 

Theroigne de Mericourt, leader of demimonde, 146; ad- 
dresses mob, 148; celebrated courtezan, 149, 150 

Third Estate, follow nobles putting on hats, 85 ; appeal 
to clergy, 88 ; declare National Assembly, 91 ; cheered 
by soldiers, 95; deputies of, 114; 220; 17th of June, 223 

Toulon, 342 

Town Hall, Foulon lodged in, 105 

Trianon, 186, 279 

Tribunal, 211; Revolutionary, 329; 331, 345, 351; bulletin 

of 346 ; 2>7Z 
Trinity, 322 
Tuileries, abode of king, 123; threatened, 146; nobles 

fiock to, 148; attack on, 152; palace, 168; 230, 232, 249, 

267, 273, 283, 323, 382, 383 
Turgot, policy of, 139, 215 

V 

Vadier, 338, 341, 373, 376 

Valaze, 280 

Valois, monarchs of the, 299 

Varennes, flight stopped at, 159, 160; king comes from, 179 

Vatican, fulminations from, 126 

Vauban, on roads and streets, 121 

Velleth, house of, 176; Madame de, 177 

Vergniaud, Pierre Victorien, orator, 199, 215, 216, 317, 
219, 221, 249; interrupts R., 263; on Corday, 266; 279 

Vernet, 196 

Versailles, residence of Great Louis, 60, 61 ; swallowed 
wealth of realm, 62; churches of Notre Dame and of 
St. Louis, 84; 97, 98; march to, 112; States-General in, 
114; feast at, 120; king brought from, 168; Louis XIV 
at, 173; 186, 189, 226, 347 

406 



INDEX 

Veto, " down with the," 226 ; " Madame," 207 
Victoire, daughter of Louis XV, 145 
Vienna, Theroigne taken to, 151 
Vincennes, old fortress, 148 
Virgin, 318, 322 

Voltaire, in prison, 100; full name, 173; attacks abuses, 
174; at death of, 175 

W 

War, necessary, 223 
Webster, 221 



407 



,ut 



-7 



